A mystery woman has covertly provided the world with a rare glimpse of life in the heartland of the Islamic State using a camera concealed beneath her niqab.

The extraordinary footage was taken in the Syrian city of Raqqa, the 'capital' of the militant regime since March.

She is forced to wear the traditional Islamic clothing, which covers the entire face except for the eyes, under the strict Sharia law imposed by IS, which has taken vast swathes of Iraq and Syria in a bloody campaign.

Men wielding Kalashnikov assault rifles are seen everywhere in the city, which is about 100 miles from Aleppo, Syria's largest city.

Armed gunmen patrol the streets of Raqqa. The scenes were captured covertly by a woman using a camera under her traditional Islamic niqab

She is forced to wear the traditional Islamic clothing, which covers the entire face except for the eyes, under the strict Sharia law imposed by IS, which has taken vast swathes of Iraq and Syria in a bloody campaign

The film shows a woman in a niqab taking children to the park - with an assault rifle slung over one shoulder

But it is not just men who have taken up arms to defend their nascent regime. The film shows a woman in a niqab taking children to the park - with a rifle slung over one shoulder.

There is also a heart-stopping moment when an armed man in a car calls over the woman filming, telling her she has to 'behave better' in public.

Her crime? Her face can be seen, something forbidden by the militants' interpretation of Islam.

She apologises for the transparency of her veil, to which the man responds: 'You have to pay attention by covering up. God loves women who are covered.'

The unidentified woman is approached by gunmen in a car and chastised for her appearance

The report, aired on a French TV channel, describes how there is no music, no entertainment and forced prayer times.

It also features some of the estimated 150 women who have chosen to leave France to live in the Islamic State.

The camerawoman enters an internet cafe where women are seen talking in French and contacting family members they have left behind.

One woman tells her mother: 'I am not going back, mom. I am telling it to you bluntly. You have to get it through your head that I am not returning.

'I did not take the risk by coming here to go back to France. I do not want to return because I am doing well here mom. There is nothing to gain from weeping or being afraid.'

A woman tells her mother in France: 'I am not going back, mom. I am telling it to you bluntly. You have to get it through your head that I am not returning'

Her mother's anguish is justified. Raqqa was targeted by the U.S. and its Arabic allies in a series of air strikes this week.

The daughter, defends her new homeland, adding: 'All I see on TV is false. They exaggerate everything on TV.'

The French narrator says: 'These women coming here to get married or to join their husbands would be an essential element of the strategy and propaganda of the fundamentalist camp.'