An undated picture shows a picture of an explosive, apparently contained in a soda can, used to bring down a Russian airliner. - AP An undated picture shows a picture of an explosive, apparently contained in a soda can, used to bring down a Russian airliner. - AP

CAIRO: Islamic State said in the latest edition of its English language magazine yesterday that it had killed a Chinese and a Norwegian captive, showing what appeared to be pictures of the dead men under a banner reading "Executed". "We condemn the killing," Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said, while adding that the government was still seeking further verification. "We have no grounds to doubt the contents of the photos that have been published," Foreign Minister Boerge Brende added.

In September, Solberg said a Norwegian man had been held hostage in Syria since January and was believed to be in the hands of Islamic State. She said Norway did not intend to pay a ransom for his release. Solberg said the man, named by the foreign ministry as Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad, was in his 40s and had been held by several groups since he was first captured.

China's Foreign Ministry also said in September that one of its citizens appeared to be in Islamic State captivity. In the previous issue of the magazine, Dabiq, Islamic State showed pictures of two men who it said were Norwegian and Chinese, wearing yellow suits and with shaved heads. It said their governments had "abandoned" them, but that they were "for sale" and ransom payments could secure their release. It identified the Chinese man as Fan Jinghui and said he was a 50-year-old freelance consultant from Beijing. It identified Grimsgaard-Ofstad as a candidate for a master's degree in political science born in 1967. In its latest issue, it did not give any details about how, when or where they were killed.

Dabiq also carried a photo yesterday of a Schweppes drink it said was used to make an improvised bomb that brought down a Russian airliner over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula last month, killing all 224 people on board. The photo showed a can of Schweppes Gold soft drink and what appeared to be a detonator and switch on a blue background, three simple components that if genuine are likely to cause concern for airline safety officials worldwide.

"The divided Crusaders of the East and West thought themselves safe in their jets as they cowardly bombarded the Muslims of the Caliphate," Dabiq said in reference to Russia and the West. "And so revenge was exacted upon those who felt safe in the cockpits." Western governments have said the plane was likely brought down by a bomb and Moscow confirmed on Tuesday it had reached the same conclusion, but the Egyptian government says it has still not found evidence of criminal action.

Islamic State also published a photo of what it said were passports belonging to dead Russians "obtained by the mujahideen". It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the published photos. The group, which has seized large swathes of Syria and Iraq, said it had exploited a loophole at Sharm el-Sheikh airport, where the plane originated, in order to smuggle a bomb on board. The airport is widely used by budget and charter airlines to fly tourists to the nearby resorts on the Sinai coast.

Islamic State said it had initially planned to bring down a plane belonging to a country participating in the US-led coalition bombing it in Syria and Iraq, but it changed course after Moscow started its own air strikes campaign in Syria. "A bomb was smuggled onto the airplane, leading to the deaths of 219 Russians and five other crusaders only a month after Russia's thoughtless decision," it said.

Egypt's interior minister told a news conference in Sharm el-Sheikh on Tuesday that there was "no information" about security lapses at the airport. Islamic State's Egyptian branch, Sinai Province, claimed responsibility for the attack the day it happened but Egyptian officials were quick to dismiss talk of a bomb as premature.

Egypt is battling an Islamist insurgency in the Sinai, a strategic peninsula bordering Israel, Gaza and the Suez Canal. But Islamic State said the airline attack was primarily planned as a response to Russian and Western air strikes. "This was to show the Russians and whoever allies with them that they will have no safety in the lands and airspace of the Muslims," the group wrote. "That their daily killing of dozens in (Syria) through their air strikes will only bring them calamities."

Russia, an ally of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, launched air strikes against opposition groups in Syria including Islamic State, on Sept 30. Since the attacks on Paris, both Russia and France have stepped up the tempo of air strikes. The downed aircraft, an Airbus A321 operated by Metrojet, had been carrying Russian holidaymakers from the Egyptian resort to St Petersburg when it broke up over Sinai.

On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to hunt down those responsible for blowing up the plane and offered a $50 million reward for information leading to those responsible. "We will find them anywhere on the planet and punish them," Putin said of the plane bombers at a sombre Kremlin meeting. Alexander Bortnikov, the head of Russia's FSB security service, said traces of foreign-made explosive had been found on fragments of the downed plane and on passengers' personal belongings. He said the bomb probably contained around 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of TNT.

Egypt has not officially given a reason as to why the plane was brought down, calling on all sides to await the official results of an investigation carried out by an Egyptian-led team. The government said it would "take into consideration" Russia's findings but that it was yet to find any evidence of criminal action bringing down the plane. - Agencies