33 IS fighters killed in air strikes as group 'executes' hostages

Thirty-three fighters from the Islamic State militant group have been killed by French and Russian air strikes on Raqqa, in the north of Syria, over the past three days, a monitoring group said on Wednesday.

The director of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdel Rahman said that dozens of IS fighters were also wounded in the raids on weapons depots, barracks and checkpoints in the militants’ de facto Syrian capital of Raqqa.

France intensified strikes on Raqqa following last week's attacks in Paris that left 129 dead, with military planes carrying out dozens of raids on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. 

Russia also pounded Raqqa with long-range bombers and sea-launched missiles on Tuesday, after Moscow confirmed that a bomb attack brought down a Russian passenger jet over Egypt last month, killing all 224 people on board.

"The limited number of deaths can be explained by the fact that the jihadists had taken precautions," said Abdel Rahman, who relies on a network of activists, medics and other sources inside Syria.

"There were only guards around the depots and barracks and most of those killed were at the checkpoints," he said.

France conducted its first air strike on Syria in September 2015, despite becoming a member of the international anti-IS coalition in August 2014.

The exact military costs from France fighting IS is not publicly known, but back in April President Francois Hollande said that military expenditures will increase over the next four years by €3.8 bn ($4.2 bn).

France’s defence ministry said that early Tuesday morning, 16 bombs were dropped on IS targets by 10 Rafale and Mirage 2000 fighter jets.

A media activist from Raqqa told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that the French air strikes had targeted abandoned IS bases in the suburbs of the city where there are no civilians or IS fighters.

Abdel Rahman said that many families of foreign fighters there had left the city for Mosul in Iraq, another IS-held town.

'Hostages killed'

Meanwhile, IS said on Wednesday that it had killed Chinese and a Norwegian hostage.

IS' English-language Dabiq magazine featured graphic photos of two bodies that appeared to be Chinese hostage Fan Jinghui and Norwegian Ole-Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad.

A stamp-like caption overlaid on the full-page photo read, "Executed after being abandoned by the kafir (disbeliever) nations and organisations."

It was unclear when, where, or how they were killed, but their heads were bloodied by apparent gunshot wounds.

The Norwegian prime minister's office said the photos "seem to show that the hostage Ole-Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad was executed. We are still verifying it."

Meanwhile, China "noticed the report and was greatly shocked," said foreign ministry spokesperson Hong Lei in a statement, adding that the information needed to be further verified.

The two men were last featured in Dabiq's September edition, in which IS published an "advertisement" that they were "for sale".

The magazine also featured an article entitled "Paradigm Shift II" allegedly penned by British hostage John Cantlie as a sequel to the last piece published under his name in Dabiq's March issue. 

The essay allegedly written by Cantlie came after a long absence of his "work", which regularly featured in the magazine. 

Cantlie claims media outlets, security services and experts themselves are acknowledging that IS "is a genuine state".