ISIS uses image of drowned boy to scare Syrian refugees.

The Islamic State used the image of a drowned Kurdish boy to warn refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war about the fate that awaited them.

The photograph of three-year-old Alan Kurdi lying face down and lifeless on a Turkish beach sparked global outrage, creating pressure on European leaders to accept Syrian refugees. Alan met his tragic end while fleeing Kobani, a Syrian border town, with his family in search of safety in Canada.

The body of a Syrian Kurdish boy washed ashore on the Turkish coast earlier this month. Photo: AP.

The Islamic State (IS) later published the photo in an English-language article in Dabiq, the militant group's extremist magazine, with the title "The Danger of Abandoning Darul-Islam." Darul-Islam, or the Islamic Land, refers to the "empire" that IS has established in Iraq and Syria.

Syrian refugees are committing "a grave and dangerous crime" by seeking refuge in the West, mortgaging the lives and souls of their children, the Guardian reported, citing the article.

Besides the photo of Alan, IS also dedicated two pages in the latest issue of Dabiq to images of the destruction of the ancient temple of Bel in Palmyra, a cultural structure built in 32 AD.

ISIS also claimed to be holding two hostages: Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad, 48, a Norwegian, and Fan Jinghui, 50, a Chinese. A photo posted on Dabiq showed the two hostages wearing yellow jumpsuits. The militant group did not specify the time or location of their abduction.

According to VNE