Race to find three British schoolgirls believed to have fled to Syria to join Islamic State
British counter-terror police have made an unprecedented appeal to find three schoolgirls who are believed to have fled to Islamic State-controlled Syria as part of what officers said was a "growing trend".
British counter-terror police have made an unprecedented appeal to find three schoolgirls who are believed to have fled to Islamic State-controlled Syria as part of what officers said was a "growing trend".
The three friends left their homes in east London and caught a flight to Istanbul, Turkey, from where they are feared to have tried to travel to the front line in Syria.
Detectives have issued images of Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and an unnamed third friend travelling through Gatwick airport as they issued an urgent call for them to come home. In the first public appeal of its kind in Britain, Counter Terrorism Command Commander Richard Walton said officers were concerned about the numbers of girls and young women who had or were intending to travel to Syria to link up with Islamic State.
He said: "It is an extremely dangerous place, and we have seen reports of what life is like for them and how restricted their lives become. It is not uncommon for girls or women to be prevented from being allowed out of their houses or if allowed out, only when accompanied by a guardian." Walton appealed to anyone with information about the girls to come forward and speak to police, saying he was "extremely concerned" about their safety.
The girls, who all go to Bethnal Green Academy school in east London, were friends with another 15-year-old girl who fled to Syria last December. Counter-terrorism officers said the three girls left their homes before 8am last Tuesday, providing their families with plausible reasons for being out for the day.
Instead they met and travelled to Gatwick airport. They boarded a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul.
