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"A lie can
circle the world seven times while Truth is purring on her boots." - English folk saying
"΄Ενα ψέμα μπορεί να κάνει τον γύρο του κόσμου επτά φορές
καθώ η Αλήθεια φοράει τις μπότες της." - Αγγλική παροιμία
(μετάφραση Πολύδωρου)
Austrian ISIS 'poster girl' beaten to death
after trying to flee extremist group – reports
Published time: 25 Nov, 2015
15:38Edited time: 25 Nov, 2015 19:56
Samra Kesinovic © interpol.int
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A teenage girl who ran away from her
home in Austria to join Islamic State in Syria has been beaten to death after
trying to escape from the group, according to Austrian media. The girl traveled
to the war-torn nation with her friend last year.
Austrian tabloid Kronen Zeitung reported that Samra
Kesinovic, 17, was beaten to death by members of the violent extremist group as
she tried to flee the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) stronghold of
Raqqa.
The newspaper cited an unnamed Tunisian woman who reportedly
also traveled to join the jihadists last year and lived with Kesinovic and her
friend Sabina Selimovic, then 15, in Raqqa. The Österreich tabloid reported the
same story, citing insider sources.
However, Austria's interior and foreign ministries have
yet to confirm the news.
"We cannot comment on individual cases," Foreign Ministry spokesman Thomas Schnöll told the
Austria Press Agency. Interior Ministry spokesman Karl-Heinz Grundböck also
said that he could not comment on the situation.
Unconfirmed reports of the girls' fate also circulated
last year, with UN counter-terrorism expert David Scharia stating that one had
been killed in fighting and the other had disappeared.
Kesinovic and Selimovic arrived in Syria via Turkey in
April 2014, and quickly became “poster girls” for IS. Photos on social
media sites showed them carrying Kalashnikovs and being surrounded by armed
men. According to Austrian police, the images were aimed at recruiting young
girls to join IS.
At the time of their disappearance, the two teenagers
left a note for their families saying, "Don’t look for us. We will
serve Allah and we will die for him." The girls are believed to have
been married off to IS fighters soon after arriving in Raqqa. However, by
October 2014, there were reports that both girls wanted to return home.
Austrian authorities have accused a Vienna-based
Bosnian Muslim preacher, Mirsad Omerovic (also known as Abu Tejda or Ebu Tejma)
of recruiting the girls, who were born in Austria to Bosnian Muslim parents. He
has denied the allegations.
As many as 130 Austrians have fled to Syria to join
IS, according to UN estimates. At least half are believed to be of Chechen
origin.
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Teenage girls abducted by ISIS sold for 'as
little as a pack of cigarettes' – UN envoy
Published time: 9 Jun, 2015
15:16Edited time: 9 Jun, 2015 16:44
AFP Photo/Safin Hamed / AFP
11
Teenage girls kidnapped by ISIS in
Iraq and Syria are being sold in slave markets “for as little as a pack of
cigarettes,” according to the UN envoy on sexual violence.
The findings come after Zainab Bangura's April visit
to Iraq and Syria, during which she spoke to women and girls who had fled
captivity in areas controlled by Islamic State (formerly ISIS/ISIL).
Bangura also met with local religious and political
leaders, and visited with refugees in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.
She said that ISIS fighters continue to run slave
markets for newly abducted girls who have been captured in fresh offensives,
adding that prices range from “as little as a pack of cigarettes” to several
hundred or thousand dollars.
“They kidnap and abduct women when they take areas so
they have – I don’t want to call it a fresh supply – but they have new girls,” she said, as quoted by AFP.
Bangura relayed the traumatic situations experienced
by several teenage girls, many of whom were part of the Yazidi minority
targeted by the fighters.
“Some were taken, locked up in a room – over 100 of
them in a small house – stripped naked and washed,” she said.
They were then made to stand in front of a group of
men who decided “what you are worth.”
She added that ISIS is aiming “to build a society
that reflects the 13th century,” calling the abuse “medieval.”
However, Bangura stated that there are no exact
figures on the number of those enslaved.
The kidnapping of teenage girls has become part of
ISIS's method to recruit foreign fighters.
“This is how they attract young men: we have women
waiting for you, virgins that you can marry,” Bangura said. “The foreign fighters are the backbone of the
fighting.”
But this is not the only strategy used by ISIS to lure
foreign militants. The group is also making promises of a great life in the
self-proclaimed 'caliphate.'
Just last month, ISISannouncedit was offering fighters a free
honeymoon, $1,500 toward their first home, and numerous other perks. Foreign
fighters were also promised a one-time sum of $500 to start a family.
Also in May, ISIS published a 'travel guide' which
stated that ISIS-controlled territories had all the qualities of a “plush
holiday resort.”
According to an April UN report, around 25,000 foreign
fighters from more than 100 countries have traveled to join militant groups
such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda.
