The Islamic State (IS) militant group says it has killed two hostages – a Norwegian and a Chinese citizen.

The militant group gave no details about when or where 48-year-old Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad, from Norway and 50-year-old Fan Jinghui, from China were killed. It had demanded ransoms from their countries.

Norwegian Prime Minister, Erna Solberg, said that there was no reason to doubt the claim, and called it a “barbaric act”.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry also said that it was shocked by the killings.

IS Dabiq Magazine published what it said were photographs of the men, alive and dead. They appeared to have been shot.