Islamic State Executes Chinese and Norwegian Citizens

Following reports of the execution of a Chinese citizen and a Norwegian citizen by the group known as the 'Islamic State', Beijing stated that it will bring the perpetrators to justice. Reports regarding the deaths of these two citizens emerged on November 18, with images of the two men's corpses published in the English-language publication of the self-proclaimed Islamic State. The Prime Minister of Norway stated that Ole Johan Grimsgard-Afstad, the kidnapped citizen of that country, has likely lost his life. In September, it was reported that Mr. Grimsgard-Afstad had been abducted in Syria. His disappearance and subsequent transfer to the Islamic State group dates back to the beginning of this year. The Norwegian Foreign Ministry stated that it is still investigating the published reports, but there is little doubt that he has been killed. A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry also expressed that Beijing is 'deeply shocked' by the report of the 'execution' of its citizen. The Islamic State had previously announced the name of the kidnapped Chinese citizen as Fan Jinghui. According to Reuters, it is not clear why Mr. Fan traveled to West Asia. The Chinese government had previously stated that a group of Uyghurs, mainly residing in the west of the country, had joined the 'Islamic State'. Meanwhile, Beijing claims it will bring the perpetrators of the murder of its citizen 'to justice'. The recent reports of the executions of the Norwegian and Chinese citizens came about a week after the Paris attacks, which resulted in at least 129 deaths and which this group claims to have planned and executed. The Islamic State has previously beheaded or killed a number of citizens from various countries, from the United States to Japan. This group has also killed hundreds of Iraqi and Syrian citizens during mass executions.