IS executes female journalist in Raqqa

Syrian media has reported that Islamic State has executed a female journalist, Ruqia Hassan, 30, for reporting inside its territory. 

The execution of Ruqia Hassan marks the fifth journalist, and the first female journalist, who reported on IS to be killed since October, according to Syrian journalism organisation Syria Direct.

Hassan, who also went by the pseudonym Nisan Ibrahim on social media, was a independent reporter in Raqqa, often reporting on air strikes in the region as well as daily life in the Islamic State's stronghold.

Her death was confirmed by Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS), a group exposing human rights abuses from within Syria.

Abu Mohammed, founder of RBSS, tweeted on Saturday that Hassan’s last words were: “I’m in Raqqa and I received death threats, and when Isis [arrests] me and kills me it’s ok because they will cut my head and I have dignity its better than I live in humiliation with Isis [sic]”

The exact date of Hassan’s execution is unknown - her presence on social media stopped abruptly on 21 July, 2015 - but reports suggest she was killed in September, after IS claimed on social media that she was still alive.