Pakistan confirms Chinese couple killed after IS claim
Pakistan confirmed Monday that a Chinese couple abducted at gunpoint has been killed, three days after Islamic State militants claimed the killing and sent a video to local journalists purporting to show their bodies.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan confirmed the deaths Monday, without saying who was behind the killings or whether the bodies have been recovered.
Lee Zing Yang, 24, and Meng Li Si, 26, were taken by gunmen from the southwestern city of Quetta last month.
IS claimed it killed the couple last week after Pakistan said it had prevented the group from establishing a stronghold. Pakistan has sought to downplay the group’s presence, saying local militants are merely acting in its name.
Pakistani extremist groups have partnered with IS in a series of attacks in recent months, including a suicide bombing at a Sufi shrine in February that killed at least 90 people.
