Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
China does not have to fight a war for the sake of destroying ISIS, but rather to create the impression that it is contributing to the international effort to do so. Any form of Chinese military activity (e.g. drone strikes or airstrikes) would be closely followed by Western powers and subsequently the press, allowing Beijing to demonstrate to its citizens and partners its willingness to partake in such efforts.
China is contributing by already sending arms and aid. I wouldn't be surprised if China is quietly supporting Iraq in its drone strikes or even sending advisers to both Syria and Iraq which is heavily rumored.
Iraq Flies Chinese-Made Drones | Popular Science
China's humanitarian aid items arrive at Iraqi Kurdish region - Xinhua | English.news.cn
Yes, but the keyword is "quiet"; as a major power, Beijing should be ready to shoulder more responsibility both abroad and at home. Nothing is a better testament to that than a visible & cheap military operation against ISIS.
ISIS uses its in-house magazine to announce it has executed Chinese and Norwegian hostages
ISIS has announced the execution of two Norwegian and Chinese hostages in its in-house magazine after earlier demanding a ransom for their release.
- ISIS say they have executed a Norwegian and a Chinese hostage in Syria
- They announced the news using the group's in-house magaizine Dabiq
- Pictures of Ole Johan Grimsgaard and Fan Jinghui appeared in magazine
- ISIS say they had been 'executed after being abandoned by kafir nations'
- For more on the reported executions visit www.dailymail.co.uk/isis
Images of Norway's Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad,48, and China's Fan Jinghui, 50, appeared in the most recent edition of the propaganda magazine, alongside the word 'executed'.
The highly-stylised photographs appear to show the men blindfolded and wearing black and white. In other images, they are wearing yellow jumpsuits and covered in blood.
Hostages Norwegian Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad, 48, left, and China's Fan Jinghui, 50, right, who have been executed by ISIS
It is believed the men were shot.
The extremist group published the images on the second-to-last page of Dabiq, saying they had been 'executed after being abandoned by kafir nations and organisations'.
'Kafir' is the Arabic word for infidel. In the images, the men both appeared to have been shot to death.
Grimsgaard-Ofstad was a graduate student in political philosophy from Porsgrunn, south of Oslo. Jinghui was a self-described 'wanderer' from Beijing who once taught middle school.
Militants did not say when or where the two were captured when they announced their captivity in a previous issue of the magazine, which showed them again in yellow jumpsuits.
The last post on Grimsgaard-Ofstad's Facebook page, dated January 24, said he had arrived in Idlib, Syria, on his way to Hama.
The extremist group published the images on the second-to-last page of Dabiq, pictured, saying they had been 'executed after being abandoned by kafir nations and organisations'
The group had previously advertised the men as being for sale. After realising that neither nation would pay the ransom demands, they hoped to sell them to another organisation.
Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg confirmed on September 9 that a citizen in his 40s had been taken hostage in Syria at the end of January.
She told a press conference today that the government cannot confirm the killing, but said 'we have no reasons to doubt it.'
She added: 'It is painful for the family and the whole country.
She called ISIS a 'barbaric group' and said 'we do not pay ransom.' She added that 'even if it hurts, we should never let the terrorists win.'
Meanwhile Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende, who attended the same press conference, said the Norwegian citizen 'was harshly mistreated,' adding that photos and videos were sent to Norwegian authorities along with demands for ransom.
Brende said the government was releasing the information in accordance with the family's wishes.
Chinese officials haven't commented on Fan's kidnapping.
ISIS controls large areas in Iraq and Syria and the killing of the two men stood in contrast to other filmed beheadings and atrocities carried out by the group since it seized a third of Iraq in a lightning advance in 2014.
The announced killings come as ISIS militants face increasing airstrikes from a variety of countries, including the U.S., Russia and France, as well as ground attacks from Kurdish and other forces.
The group's online magazine, which is titled 'Dabiq' after a town in Syria, contains articles, interviews, opinion pieces and other propaganda.
It has a professional layout, complete with photos and graphics. The latest issue celebrates the Paris attacks on its cover with the headline 'Just Terror.'
We didn‘t pay the ransom?
One's religious views are independent of nationality.