Islamic State group militants executed journalist Ruqia Hassan – who had written about life in Raqqa, which is under the group’s control, and coalition air strikes against the group – on charges of espionage. Hassan, who acerbically criticised the group in posts on social media under the pen name Nissan Ibrahim, was detained sometime after July 20, 2015, when she abruptly stopped posting. News reports indicated that the group continued to operate her social media accounts following her execution, which is believed to have taken place in September 2015, in order to communicate with and entrap other critics. News of Hassan’s death was not made public until January 2016.
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