Poster girls for jihad: young women raised in West joining militants
Female recruits to Islamic State, many in their teens, turning backs on family, friends and comforts to be jihadi brides, and even fighters
Hundreds of young women and girls are leaving their homes in Western countries to join Islamic fighters in the Middle East, causing increasing concern among counterterrorism investigators.
Girls as young as 14 or 15 are travelling mainly to Syria to marry jihadis, bear their children and join communities of fighters, with a small number taking up arms. Many are recruited on social media. Women and girls appear to account for about 10 per cent of those leaving Europe, North America and Australia to link up with jihadist groups, including Islamic State (IS).
France has the highest number of female recruits, with 63 in the region, which is about 25 per cent of the total, and at least another 60 believed to be considering the move.
In most cases they appear to have left home to marry jihadis, drawn to the idea of supporting "brother fighters" and having "jihadist children to continue the spread of Islam", said Louis Caprioli, former head of the French security agency Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire. "If their husband dies, they will be given adulation as the wife of a martyr."
Five people, including a sister and brother, were arrested in France this month on suspicion of belonging to a ring in central France that specialised in recruiting young French women, according to Bernard Cazeneuve, the interior minister.