Yazidi sisters, who escaped from captivity by Islamic State (IS) militants, sit in a tent at Sharya refugee camp on the outskirts of Duhok province July 3, 2015. Picture taken July 3, 2015.

Yazidi sisters, who escaped from captivity by Islamic State (IS) militants, sit in a tent at Sharya refugee camp on the outskirts of Duhok province July 3, 2015. Picture taken July 3, 2015. Reuters

In 2013, a book claims former Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi keep teen girls in his basement as sex slaves to meet his carnal needs. Keeping sex slaves apparently is a tradition made by extremist Islamic leaders or organisations such as the Islamic State (IS) which also sells the captive women for profit.

Auctioning the 3,000 women and girls whom the IS had kidnapped and kept as sex slaves is one way for the terror organisation to raise fund as it suffers from constant attacks from the coalition and loses territory. To auction the sex slaves, IS is using apps such as Telegram and WhatsApp, reports the New York Daily News.

One advert on Telegram says the offer has reached US$12,500 (A$16,800) for a 12-year-old virgin girl expected to be sold soon. The postings are in Arabic on an encrypted conversation, beside adverts for weapons, tactical gear and kittens.

An activist with the Yazidis, whose women and kids are among those abducted by the IS to serve as sex slaves, shared the posting with Associated Press. IS captured thousands of young female Yazidis in August 2015 in northern Iraq as part of the terror organisation’s plan to eliminate minorities who speak Kurdish linked to their faith.

An average of 134 Yazidis were abducted by Arab and Kurdish smugglers since then, but the number has dwindled to 39 since May when IS itself made a crackdown. The sex slaves often find it difficult to escape their captors, says Mirza Danai, founder of Luftbrucke Irak, a German-Iraqi aid group.

Danai explains the captors register every sex slave under the owner’s name which makes it easy to catch these women who attempt to flee when they pass through a Daesh control or checkpoint. In response to the news of auctioning the sex slaves using apps, John Kirby, US State Department spokesman, says, “This depravity not only speaks to the degree to which Daesh cheapens life and repudiates the Islamic faith, it also strengthens our resolve to defeat them.”

VIDEO: ISIS Sex-Slave Raping & Selling Girls (Full Documentary)