Female slaves kept in ISIL desert dungeon

An ISIL dungeon used to imprison female slaves has been discovered in the remote Syrian desert.

The deserted makeshift prison is thought to have housed dozens of women from the Yazidi minority in hellish cramped conditions underground in complete darkness, Sky News reports.

Scratched drawings on the wall reveal the overwhelming despair felt by the women, with one image showing a large house with a car and animals outside.

It is not known what happened to the prisoners, or where they are now.

ISIL has been running a genocidal campaign against Yazidi people since taking over large areas of territory in northern Iraq and Syria beginning in early 2014.

One of Iraq's oldest and most persecuted minority groups, the Yazidi adhere to an ancient religion that combines parts of Christianity and Islam and worships a fallen angel named Melek Tawwus.

The group has been accused of devil worship by Islamic fundamentalists, and been the target of scores of massacres and bombings, even before the advent of ISIL.