Concerted efforts to defeat IS

In response to news reports that the Islamic State group is holding a Chinese and a Norwegian hostage and demanding unspecified ransoms for their release, China's foreign ministry said on Wednesday it was aware of the reports and was in the process of confirming them. This latest hostage crisis has again raised the alarm about how far the extremist group is willing to go to achieve its ulterior motives.

Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg has confirmed a Norwegian citizen was being held, and insisted that "Norway does not pay ransoms".

This is not the first time that the IS group has taken hostage foreign nationals in the Middle East, and we pray the tragedies of the past will not be repeated this time.