Photos of 'Chinese' ISIS fighter not confirmed

One photo posted by the Iraqi Defense Ministry.

Screenshot of a news programme on Shanghai TV.

(ECNS) -- The Iraqi Defense Ministry on Tuesday posted photographs that it said show a captured Chinese man who was fighting on behalf of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), but the authenticity of the images hasn't been validated by the Chinese Embassy in Iraq.

In one photo, an Iraqi soldier holds up an Asian-looking man with a severely bruised and bloodied face. The man wears an olive-green camouflage T-shirt and black gloves. The other photo shows the man curled on rocks on the ground, with cuts and scrapes visible on his body.

Arabic text accompanying the photos says "Chinese Daash," an acronym for "Dulat al-Islam fi al-Iraq wal-Sham," Arabic for ISIS. If confirmed, the man would be the first Chinese national to be found fighting for ISIS, Iraqi media said.

The Chinese Embassy in Iraq told the Beijing News on Thursday that the authenticity of the images hasn't been validated.

Wu Sike, China's former special envoy on the Middle East Issue, said last month that some Islamic extremists from Xinjiang received training in the Middle East, and that some of them might be fighting in Iraq.