This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/6525
September 7, 2014
How British female jihadis are running Islamic State's religious police force that punishes women for 'un-Islamic' behaviour
Al-Khanssaa brigade is female-only militia set up by IS in Raqqa, Syria
'Key figure' is Aqsa Mahmood, 20, who fled Glasgow for Syria last year
London academics identify four British females as members of group
British women in al-Khanssaa could know who killed two US hostages
class="author-section mol-para-with-font">By Mark Duell
mol-para-with-font">Published: 08:12 EST, 7 September 2014 | Updated: 10:17 EST, 7 September 2014
British female jihadis are operating a religious police force that punishes women for 'un-Islamic' behaviour, it was claimed today.
The al-Khanssaa brigade is a female-only militia set up by the Islamic State in Raqqa, Syria, with a key figure believed to be Aqsa Mahmood, 20, of Glasgow, who fled to the country last year.
Academics at King's College London have identified three other British females as members of the group - and say there are about 60 UK women who have gone to Syria on jihad.
Most of these women - including privately-educated Mahmood - are aged between 18 and 24, with al-Khanssaa said to be seeking out people engaging in Western culture in Raqqa.
It is believed that US hostages James Foley and Steven Sotloff were both beheaded in the desert near Raqqa - and therefore the British women in al-Khanssaa could know who killed them.
Melanie Smith, a research associate at King's College's International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, told journalists Robert Mendick and Robert Verkaik of The Sunday Telegraph: ‘Al-Khanssaa is a sharia law police brigade. This is Isil's female law enforcement.
'We think it's a mixture of British and French women but its social media accounts are run by the British and they are written in English.
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This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/6525