Isis in Syria: Islamic State beheads 2 women for sorcery reports Syrian Observatory for Human Rights

The Islamic State (Isis) has beheaded two women in Syria on witchcraft accusations, the first time the jihadist group has executed women in the war-torn country, according to a monitoring group.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a local network of sources, said IS decapitated the two women in Deir Ezzor province on accusations of "sorcery" and using "magic for medicine".

"This is the first time the Observatory has documented women being killed by the group in this manner," the Observatory told AFP.

The executions occurred on Sunday and Monday (29 and 30 June), and the women were killed with their husbands with each couple accused of "witchcraft and sorcery".

According to the monitor, IS has executed more than 3,000 people in Syria in the year since it declared its Islamic "caliphate" in Syria and Iraq.

Nearly 1,800 of them were civilians, including 74 children.