News | 25 05 2020
Member of the “Raqqa is Silently Being Slaughtered” campaign Ibrahim Abdel- Qader and his friend Fares Hammadi were found beheaded on Friday, in a house in the city of Urfa in southern Turkey.
The “Raqqa is Silently Being Slaughtered” Facebook page accused the Islamic State [Daesh] of standing behind the killing of both young men. Hussam Issa, a campaign collaborator in a telephone conversation with Rozana, advises that "a third person who had been present with the two young men—a former Daesh detainee is now in hiding. There are reports about this individual being involved in this crime. Ibrahim decided to stay overnight at a friend's home, where they found him dead with his friend in the morning, beheaded by machetes and knives."
Hussam said that "the campaign members always maintain caution in terms of security. None of them has ever been subjected to such an incident—even inside the city of Raqqa controlled by Daesh. It seems that this is [the fate] written [by God] for everyone."
As for the measures undertaken by Turkish authorities, says Hussam "the police cordoned off the scene, and transferred the bodies to a police morgue. Turkish police say that they have opened an investigation into the incident, and are in pursuit of certain suspects."
This crime comes only two days after the campaign was awarded the "America Abroad Media" press award, and its members receiving the honors in the US capital Washington.
It is to be noted that the “Raqqa is Silently Being Slaughtered” campaign was launched in April 2014, aiming to document the Islamic State’s violations. The team comprises several activists distributed between the city of Raqqa [in northeastern Syria] and Turkey.