China will join the war on ISIS after four of its citizens were killed by Islamist terror groups in two separate attacks this week.
The vow comes after ISIS claimed to have killed Beijing man Fan Jinghui, 50, alongside Norwegian national Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad, 48, who were feared to have been taken hostage in September.
Chinese President Xi Jinping: "China will strengthen cooperation with the international community, resolutely crack down on violent terrorist operations that devastate innocent lives and safeguard world peace and security."
He also called on the relevant departments to boost security work "outside China's borders".
ISIS had earlier published pictures of the two men in two full-page posters which listed the men as 'for sale' in its propaganda publication Dabiq.
The latest issue of the group’s in-house magazine featured images purporting to show the two men shot to death after being "abandoned by kafir nations and organisations”.
Xi also today condemned the "cruel and savage" attack by militants on a hotel in Mali's capital that killed more than people yesterday, including three executives from a Chinese railway company.
“With no regard for human conscience and moral baseline, the terrorist organisation still carried out this cold-blooded and violent action,” he said.
“The Chinese government strongly condemns this inhuman action and will definitely hold the perpetrators accountable.”
The announcement is grim news for ISIS - China has a vast military force with more than two million active personnel.
Gunmen shouting Islamic slogans attacked the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako yesterday, before Malian commandos stormed the building and freed 170 hostages, many of them foreigners.
The three Chinese citizens killed in the hotel attack were executives from the state-owned China Railway Construction Corp , the company said in a statement on its website.
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