The Islamic State has executed at least three women in as many weeks in A-Raqqa city in what activists from the locked-down city say is “a sign of weakness” that may be connected to recent IS losses in Iraq and Syria.
Lina al-Qasem, a 45-year-old employee of the Raqqa postal service was executed by firing squad in a public square in the northern Syrian city last Wednesday.
Known in A-Raqqa as “Um Ali,” the mother of Ali, al-Qasem’s killing made headlines in Arabic and English-language online media, largely because her own son, 20-year-old Ali Saker, an IS fighter, was reportedly among her executioners.
Saker and other IS fighters killed al-Qasem “for apostasy,” the Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS) media campaign reported Friday, denying widespread reports that she was killed for urging her son to leave the organization. Syria Direct could not independently verify either narrative.
Al-Qasem is one of the unknown number of Raqqa city residents publicly and privately executed by members of IS since the group took full control of the northern city two years ago. She is also the latest of up to four Raqqa women whose deaths at the hands of IS have been made public in just over three weeks.