China fails to rescue hostages due to Russian and French airstrikes on IS

China has made progress in rescuing hostages held by IS, but the effort has been hampered by Russian and French airstrikes on the terrorist group.

Qiu Yongzheng, a former war correspondent who works for a Chinese think tank, told People's Daily that IS had demanded ransom from Fan Jinghui's family and relevant government departments through various channels. Beijing had been in contact with the group.

Chinese hostage Fan Jinghui (right) and Norwegian hostage Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad. Photo: AP

"We even know that the hostage is in Iraq's Anbar province, and the rescue effort has made some progress," Qiu said. "But recently, countries like Russia and France have launched airstrikes against IS, which has affected the group's original plan."

"This disrupted the communication channels to rescue the hostage. Since IS did not receive the money, they killed him," he said.

Qiu added that Beijing considers negotiations as the first option to rescue Chinese citizens kidnapped by terrorists. Beijing avoids the use of force.

France has been conducting airstrikes against IS in Syria since September 27, while Moscow began six weeks ago. Following the terrorist attacks in Paris that killed more than 100 people on November 13, the French air force launched a major attack on Raqqa, the IS stronghold in Syria. Russia has also targeted the city.

IS publicly announced Fan's capture in September, when it "put up for sale" him and Norwegian hostage Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad. China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on November 19 that the government had made "every effort" to rescue Fan. It strongly condemned the killings of Fan and Grimsgaard-Ofstad, which IS announced on November 18.

According to VNE