Sabina Selimovic (c. 16 February 1999 – ????), and Samra Kesinovic (c. 25 September 1997 – ????), were two teenaged

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

nationals who at the height of the ascendancy of the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

militia's conquests in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

in April 2014, abandoned their family homes in

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...

and illicitly travelled to

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

to join it. Their actions drew substantial media commentary due to the ongoing media reports of en masse barbarity that the Islamic State forces were engaging in, and raised questions as to why people of European extraction would be drawn to such an entity.

Background

Selimovic and Kesinovic were born in Austria to

Bosniak The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, cu ...

immigrants who had fled the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

in the 1990s. Both girls were residents with their families in stable homes in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, and are believed to have become interested in the Islamic State after watching its broadcast propaganda on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

, and through their attendance at a

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

in Vienna.

Departure to join the Islamic State

In April 2014, the pair left their homes in Vienna illicitly, without telling their families of their intentions, leaving a note for their parents stating: "Don't look for us. We will serve

Allah Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", an ...

and we will die for him." They then traveled via

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, entering it through its Northern border, wherein they entered Islamic State controlled territory. The pair later posted photographs from Islamic State territory on

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

websites for Jihadist propaganda, wearing

burqa A burqa or a burka, or , and ur, , it is also transliterated as burkha, bourkha, burqua or burqu' or borgha' and is pronounced natively . It is generally pronounced in the local variety of Arabic or variety of Persian, which varies. Examp ...

s and brandishing machine guns. Information obtained by the French news magazine ''

Paris Match ''Paris Match'' () is a French-language weekly news magazine. It covers major national and international news along with celebrity lifestyle features. History and profile A sports news magazine, ''Match l'intran'' (a play on ''L'Intransigeant' ...

'' shortly afterwards disclosed that the two girls had been married to two Chechen Jihadists, and that they had expressed fears of imprisonment back in Austria for their activities on social media as Islamic State propagandists should they return home.

Purported deaths

Selimovic and Kesinovic were subsequently reported to be seeking a means of returning to Austria only six months later, around October 2014, though other media reports stated that Selimovic had been killed around September 2014 at the age of 16 during fighting in Syria. In late 2015, it was reported by the Middle East bureau of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' newspaper that Kesinovic had been beaten to death with a hammer towards the end of 2014, after being caught by Islamic State forces whilst trying to escape from sex slavery in the city of

Raqqa Raqqa ( ar, ٱلرَّقَّة, ar-Raqqah, also and ) (Kurdish languages, Kurdish: Reqa/ ڕەقە) is a city in Syria on the northeast bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. T ...

. She was 17 years old. Reports in 2019 reiterated that the girls were dead. That same year, Sabina Selimovic's children were sent to Austria from the

Al-Hawl refugee camp The al-Hawl refugee camp (also al-Hol refugee camp) is a refugee camp on the southern outskirts of the town of al-Hawl in northern Syria, close to the Syria-Iraq border, which holds individuals displaced from the Islamic State of Iraq and the ...

and taken into custody of Sabina's mother after a DNA test confirmed their kinship.

References

{{Reflist 1990s births 2010s missing person cases 2014 deaths 2015 in Austria Austrian children Austrian Islamists Austrian Muslims Austrian people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent Austrian people of Bosniak descent duos Female murder victims Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant members Missing person cases in Syria People from Vienna People killed in the Syrian civil war People murdered in Syria History of women in Syria Violence against women in Syria

Background

Departure to join the Islamic State

Purported deaths

See also

References