First such executions among more than 3,000 carried out by Islamic State since it proclaimed a caliphate a year ago

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Islamic State militants have beheaded two women in a province in eastern Syria after accusing them of witchcraft, the first time such an execution has been carried out under the rule of the self-proclaimed caliphate, activists said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group with wide contacts inside Syria, said Isis executed the two women and their husbands this week in the province of Deir Ezzor, where the militants are vying for control against forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Isis has executed more than 3,000 people since it proclaimed a caliphate in vast swaths of Iraq and Syria a year and a day ago, including civilians and forces loyal to and opposed to Assad, according to the observatory.

It said nearly 1,800 of those executed were civilians, including 74 children. Isis has previously executed women for offences including adultery, by stoning them to death or by firing squad.

The killings came as the terror group broadened its assault on Shia Muslims in the Middle East, claiming responsibility for a car bombing in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, that targeted mourners at a funeral.

Late last week Isis claimed a suicide bombing at a Shia mosque in the Gulf state of Kuwait that killed more than two dozen worshippers. It was the latest in a string of attacks targeting Shias in the Gulf, including in Saudi Arabia’s province of Qatif, home to many from the sect.

In Yemen, Isis claimed responsibility for a bombing that killed 28 people at a funeral attended by Houthi commanders, the latest in a series of attacks aimed at Shias in an attempt to sow further sectarian tensions.

Isis has been ramping up its assaults in Yemen, which is reeling after months of Saudi air bombardment targeted at the Houthis, members of the Zaydi sect of Shia Islam, who seized control of Sana’a last year and exiled the president.

Two coordinated suicide bombings at Shia mosques in Sana’a in March killed 137 people and triggered an escalation in the conflict, pushing the Houthis to advance on the president’s stronghold in the port city of Aden, a development that in turn pushed the Saudis into launching their air campaign.

Isis considers Shia Muslims heretics and has levelled many of their shrines in Iraq and Syria, as well as committing massacres of civilians and security forces.