Islamic State fighter 'executes own mother for dissent'

A 21-year-old Islamic State fighter has reportedly publicly executed his own mother because she asked him to flee from the extremists.

Ali Saqr al-Qasem is said to have shot his 45-year-old mother, Lena, in front of the post office where she worked in Raqqa, Syria, watched by a crowd of hundreds.

The story comes from the human rights groups the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) and Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently.

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According to the UK-based SOHR, reliable sources said Qasem was shot for "inciting her son to leave the Islamic state and escaping together to the outside of Raqqa", as well as warning him that the US-led coalition "will kill all members of the organisation".

Saqr is said to have reported her to his IS superiors and was told to shoot her himself.

Raqqa, the de facto capital of IS's so-called caliphate since the group captured the city in 2013, has been the site of more than 2,000 executions. Reasons include homosexuality, apostasy and the practice of magic.

Earlier this month, Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently warned that IS had been tightening security along the borders of its "caliphate" to prevent people from fleeing.

The people of Raqqa have reportedly been forced to register with the militant "government", it said, and the relatives of those allowed out of the city are threatened with arrest if their family members fail to return.