Norwegian prime minister calls killing of citizen ‘painful for the whole country’ but ‘we should never let terrorists win’

The Norwegian prime minister has said it had no reason to doubt that Isis had murdered one of its citizens held hostage in Syria, as the terrorist group dug into its de facto capital of Raqqa as French, Russian and US airstrikes intensify.

Images of the dead Norwegian, identified as Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad, 48, were published in the latest issue of the Isis magazine Dabiq along with photographs of a second murdered hostage identified as a Chinese citizen.



Erna Solberg, the Norwegian prime minister, said the killing was “painful for the family and the whole country” but stated that it did not pay ransoms. “Even if it hurts, we should never let the terrorists win,” she told a press conference.



The Norwegian foreign minister, Borge Brende, said the Norwegian “was harshly mistreated”, adding that photos and videos were sent along with demands for ransom. He said the Oslo government was releasing the information in accordance with the family’s wishes. Beijing has yet to comment on the Isis claims.

Raqqa has been under heavy bombardment over the last three days after a series of coordinated assaults in Paris claimed by the terror group provoked intensified airstrikes by France along with raids by the US-led coalition and Russia that have killed close to three dozen militants.



French warplanes conducted 30 airstrikes in retaliation on Sunday night, followed by seven more on Monday night. Activists reported 15 explosions overnight on Tuesday, though they said the city was also struck by an unidentified ballistic missile.

Residents are now trapped in the Syrian city as Isis attempts to consolidate and put a brave face on recent defeats, activists have said.



Isis struck a defiant tone in the latest issue of its magazine, saying the two hostages had been killed after being abandoned by their nations and international organisations.

Isis has come under increasing military pressure in recent days, losing the city of Sinjar in Iraq to Kurdish and Yazidi forces backed by US airstrikes, a defeat that severed a crucial link between its two major urban centres, Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq.



The regime of Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, recently broke a one-year siege of a strategic military base in the province of Aleppo – another setback for Isis. In addition, US-backed Kurdish and Arab forces have scored significant advances recently near Raqqa, taking the town of Ain Issa, just 30 miles (48km) from the Isis redoubt.

French and Russian planes pounded Raqqa again on Wednesday while the US and other allies conducted 13 airstrikes against Isis targets in Syria and 16 in Iraq. US central command said the US and its allies had over the last 24 hours hit an Isis sniper position, four buildings, a tactical unit, a machine-gun position and, crucially, oil and gas installations.

Russia, while not formally coordinating attacks with the US, has also focused on the oil installations and transport on which Isis heavily relies for finance. Moscow has doubled the number of sorties being flown in Syria, with the introduction of 25 long-range bombers flying from Russia. US officials have expressed concern that Russia, using bombers, may be less concerned about civilian casualties, which could prove counterproductive over the long term.

Activists insist no civilians have been killed in what they described as “precise” French airstrikes, but they said Russian planes had killed five civilians in a Raqqa neighbourhood in the last three days.

Iraqi intelligence officials this week told the Associated Press that the French attacks were planned in Raqqa, where the Paris attackers were trained specifically for the operation. Isis also claimed responsibility for recent attacks in Turkey and Lebanon, as well as the downing of a Russian plane over the Sinai peninsula in Egypt.

Activists with wide contacts in Raqqa said Isis is barring any civilians from leaving the city – a continuation of a policy introduced a month ago that only allows individuals with serious medical conditions to leave after receiving a one-week Islamic law course.

“The people feel they are in a large prison and that at any moment there could be a battle for Raqqa or preparatory airstrikes where they will be the biggest losers,” said Tim Ramadan, an activist with Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, a campaign group that opposes Isis and the Syrian regime. “People are trying as much as they can to get a permit to leave.”

An activist from Raqqa told the Associated Press that to avoid being hit in their bases, the Isis fighters have moved into empty homes in residential neighbourhoods abandoned by people who fled the city earlier, and have been ordered only to use side streets to avoid drones, following last week’s killing of the British jihadi Mohammed Emwazi.



In addition to claiming responsibility for the recent attacks in Paris, Beirut and Turkey, Isis said in the latest issue of Dabiq that a Jordanian police officer who had shot US police trainers at a suburb of the capital Amman was a militant recruit. Jordanian officials had said publicly that he had mental health problems and was not connected to a terrorist group.