The beheaded bodies of two Egyptian girls were found in a sprawling camp in northeastern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and local officials said Tuesday, November 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad, File)
Damascus, Syria - The beheaded bodies of two Egyptian girls were found Tuesday in a sprawling camp in northeastern Syria that houses thousands of women and children linked with the Islamic State group, an opposition war monitor and local officials said.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the girls' bodies were found in the camp's sewage system a few days after they went missing. The group said that the girls were beheaded. It was the first such crime in weeks at the facility.
An official at the camp who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals said the girls were aged 11 and 13.
Such heinous crimes in the camp are usually carried out by members of IS sleeper cells, especially against women who oppose following the group's extreme ideology. The observatory, Ali and camp officials all blamed IS.
"This is another very sad reminder of how bad things are. We call on all parties to do whatever they can to improve the situation there," UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said when asked about the incident. Can, do." "And of course, it should be strongly condemned and thoroughly investigated."
Some 50,000 Syrians and Iraqis are housed in tents in the fenced camp. About 20,000 of them are children; Most of the rest are women, wives and widows of IS fighters.
The Observatory, which monitors Syria's 11-year conflict, has recorded 28 crimes in al-Hol since the beginning of the year, in which 30 people were killed.
Source: The Associated Press