IS uses photo of drowned boy to threaten Syrian refugees

The Islamic State has used an image of a drowned Kurdish boy to warn refugees fleeing Syria's civil war of their fate.

The photo of three-year-old Alan Kurdi lying face down and lifeless on a Turkish beach sparked global outrage and pressure on European leaders to take in Syrian refugees. Alan was killed while fleeing the Syrian border town of Kobani with his family, seeking safety in Canada.

The body of a Syrian Kurdish boy washed up on a Turkish beach 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, headlined "The Danger of Abandoning Darul-Islam." Darul-Islam, or Islamic Land, refers to the "caliphate" IS has established in Iraq and Syria.

Syrian refugees are committing “a great and dangerous crime” by seeking refuge in the West, mortgaging the lives and souls of their children, the Guardian quoted the article as saying.

In addition to the photo of Alan, IS also devoted two pages in the latest issue of Dabiq to posting images of the destruction of the ancient Temple of Bel in the city of Palmyra, a cultural structure built in 32 AD.

IS also claimed to be holding two hostages, Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad, 48, a Norwegian, and Fan Jinghui, 50, a Chinese national. The photo posted on Dabiq showed the two hostages wearing yellow jumpsuits. The militants did not say when or where they were kidnapped.

According to VNE