Islamic State beheads two women in Syria for 'witchcraft and sorcery'

Islamic State jihadists have beheaded two women in Syria for "witchcraft and sorcery", a monitor said, in the group's first known decapitation of female civilians.

Meanwhile, IS re-entered the town of Tal Abyad on the Turkish border, seized from it by Kurdish forces two weeks ago, and took back one district, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights added.

Rami Abdel Rahman, the Britain-based watchdog's chief, said on Tuesday that IS "executed two women by beheading them in Deir Ezzor province ... the first time the Observatory has documented women being killed by the group in this manner".

Each woman was killed along with her husband, after they had all been accused of "witchcraft and sorcery", in executions on Sunday and Monday.

Abdel Rahman said the four, killed in the city of Mayadeen, appear to have been accused after the jihadists found them in possession of charms.

The use of amulets, charms and other folk religious practices is common in parts of Syria, particularly in the countryside, according to activists.

The charms are often written on a piece of paper sewn into fabric, and are intended to protect the recipient against bad luck or jealousy, or to prevent or solve other problems. But the practice is considered heretical and a form of "witchcraft" by IS, which imposes its harsh interpretation of Islam on the areas under its control.