But the girls’ claims cannot necessarily be trusted, Ms Smith and Mr Abdulkader agreed, as they are likely to have been “under close watch” by their handler whilst they spoke to their families.

Speaking negatively of the “Islamic State” to outsiders is a grave offence. Punishment for betraying the caliphate’s ideals is harsh: Mr Abdulkader said he knew of three new male foreign arrivals in recent months who had been publicly executed because they were not considered trustworthy.

Other sources inside Raqqa told this newspaper that there are a growing number of foreigners who want to escape. One, who asked not to be named, cited a group of 40 Europeans who “arrived to the caliphate. But now they are desperate to leave. They say it’s not like they were promised on the internet. It’s dangerous, it’s harsh; there are killings and bombs,” the source said.

Mr Abdulkader said he believed that the girls too would like to escape if they could, citing rumours from defectors he had spoken to.

In his statement, Mr Akunjee said the girls had now been “separated”. Mr Abdulkader confirmed this may be the case: he said that his activists had not been able to trace the girls to their old apartment in recent weeks. They may have been kept in Raqqa, though the activists also suggested they might even have been moved to Mosul, the Isil-held city in Iraq.