PM Modi condemns killing of Japanese hostages by Islamic State

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday strongly condemned the "gruesome" killing of two Japanese nationals by Islamic State, a day after the terror group claimed the hostages had been beheaded.

Modi, in a tweet, termed the killing of Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa as "gruesome & unfortunate".

The Islamic State group claimed on Sunday in a video that it has beheaded a second Japanese hostage, drawing international condemnation and outrage from a visibly upset Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who denounced it as a "heinous and despicable" act.