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                 IS Says It Executed Woman Who Spied for Russia

   by Fatima Tlisova

   The Islamic State (IS) group has announced it executed a native of the
   North Caucasus, whom it accused of spying for the Russian intelligence
   services.

   What makes the case unusual is that the alleged spy was a woman.

   The execution was covered in the latest issue of Istok (The Source),
   the terrorist organization's Russian-language propaganda magazine. It
   reported that Elvira Karayeva, also known Sumaya among
   extermist Islamists, was convicted of spying for Russia's special
   services and was executed in Syria.

   According to Russian media reports, Karayeva, 28, was born in
   Karachaevo-Cherkessia, a republic in Russia's North Caucasus, and was
   an ethnic Karachay, a Turkic-speaking group.

   In 2013, Karayeva, along with her teenage daughter, went to Syria to
   join the militants. Before leaving Russia, she was reportedly married
   four times to members of the Islamist armed underground in the
   Caucasus. All of her husbands were either killed by Russian security
   services or died under unclear circumstances.

   All accusations denied

   The Istok article claims Karayeva was under surveillance by "the
   security services of the Caliphate" from the moment she arrived in
   Syria because she was already suspected of having links with Russia's
   special services.

   The IS magazine says she was repeatedly questioned but categorically
   denied all accusations. However, after IS in Syria received an audio
   recording from their counterparts Ingushetia, another  North Caucasus
   republic, proving she was working for the Russia's Federal Security
   Services (FSB), Karayeva admitted "all crimes," Istok writes. She was
   shot in the head by one of the IS "mujahideen," after which her body
   was "thrown in a garbage dump," the article states.

   IS claims Karayeva betrayed a large number of Islamist militants in the
   North Caucasus to the FSB, and the group says it was able to obtain
   evidence of seven such cases. The Istok article includes several photos
   of jihadists it says were "victims" of Karayeva's "treachery." The
   magazine claims she personally poisoned her last husband, an Islamist
   who had sworn allegiance to IS.

   The Russian special services have not responded to the reports that
   Karayeva was executed.

   While the case of Elvira Karayeva marks the only time the Islamic
   State's Russian-speaking wing has announced it executed a woman, IS
   routinely puts women to death.

   Another execution

   Nor does Karayeva's case represent the first time that IS has executed
   an alleged Russian spy: Four months ago, the group posted a video
   online of the execution of a young man from Chechnya, also in Russia's
   North Caucasus, whom it accused of being an FSB spy.

   The video was uploaded to the Internet on December 3, 2015 -- two days
   after Chechnya's pro-Kremlin ruler, Ramzan Kadyrov, said in an
   interview with Russian state media that he had placed agents inside IS
   in both Syria and Iraq.

   In the IS execution video, Magomed Khasiyev, 23, dressed in an orange
   jumpsuit, admits spying for the Russian intelligence services, after
   which a Russian-speaking IS militant cuts his throat on camera.

   IS did not publish a photo or video of Karayeva's execution, either in
   Istok magazine or other Internet resources.

   Islamic State distributes Istok through its channels on various social
   networks. The Russian-language propaganda magazine is aimed at
   audiences in the countries of the former Soviet Union.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/islamic-state-says-executed-woman-spi
   ed-russia/3329464.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/islamic-state-says-executed-woman-spied-russia/3329464.html