China has asserted its international right to take on insurgents threatening the lives of its citizens after an attack claimed by the Islamic State militant group ( ISIS) killed a Chinese citizen in northeastern Afghanistan.

According to ISIS’s media outlet, Amaq, the group’s fighters targeted and killed the Chinese citizen. The Taliban’s spokesperson in Takhar explained that the victim and his translator had left the office without informing authorities and were killed by unknown assailants.

Police said Wednesday a Chinese mine worker was killed in an attack in Afghanistan which the Islamic State group later claimed responsibility for, as the Taliban government attempts to project an image of security to encourage investment from Beijing.

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the killing of a Chinese national in Afghanistan's northern Takhar province, in a post on its Telegram channel late on Wednesday. Afghan police in the province had said on Wednesday that a Chinese citizen was murdered and a preliminary investigation had been launched,

A Chinese citizen was "murdered" in Afghanistan's northern Takhar province, the Taliban provincial police said on Wednesday, adding that a preliminary investigation had been launched. An interpreter accompanying the victim was unharmed,

China said Thursday it had lodged "solemn representations" with Afghanistan's Taliban government over the killing of a Chinese mine worker in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.