ISIL as beheaded two female civilians in eastern Syria accused of "witchcraft and sorcery".

Takfiri group operating in Iraq and Syria, ISIL (so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) has beheaded two female civilians in eastern Syria accused of "witchcraft and sorcery".

Head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, said that the ISIL “executed two women by beheading them in Deir Ezzor province, and this is the first time the Observatory has documented women being killed by the group in this manner.”

Several news agencies and newspapers reported the incident, including AFP, Reuters, The New York Times and The Washington Post.

The Britain-based monitor said the executions took place on Monday and Sunday and involved two couples.

In both cases, the women were executed with their husbands, with each pair accused of "witchcraft and sorcery".

The Observatory said ISIL has previously decapitated the corpses of Kurdish female fighters during battles, and the Takfiri group is reported to have stoned civilian women to death on allegations of adultery.

But even for a group known for its terrifying acts, beheading civilian women is new. Abdel Rahman told The Washington Post that the Islamic State had beheaded at least one woman before, but waited to do so until after she was executed.

“They want to make people fear living in ISIS area,” he said.
According to the Observatory, the Islamic State has executed 3,000 people in Syria, including 1,800 civilians and 74 children.

The monitor said the women and their husbands were killed in the city of Mayadeen in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, which is mostly under the control of ISIL.

A video obtained by the Observatory, which the group has not distributed, reportedly shows a masked executioner in a tunic saying a prayer before beheading one man and his wife, who is wearing a full face veil.

Abdel Rahman said the two couples appear to have been accused after the Takfiri group found them in possession of charms.