Missing British schoolgirls feared to have entered Syria to be ‘jihadi brides’
Police investigating the disappearance of three British schoolgirls believe the teenagers are no longer in Turkey and have crossed into Syria – likely to join extremists.
Police investigating the disappearance of three British schoolgirls believe the teenagers are no longer in Turkey and have crossed into Syria – likely joining dozens of other young women leaving Europe to join extremists.
The disappearance of the three British girls, aged 15 to 16, underlines fears that growing numbers in Britain and Europe are lured by online propaganda to join the Islamic State group and become “jihadi brides”.
Security officials say at least 500 Britons have travelled to Syria to fight with extremists, often via Turkey. Experts estimate about 50 are female.
The three girls in the latest case, all described as “straight-A students” from a highly regarded London school, went missing from their homes on February 17. Authorities say they boarded a plane to Istanbul.
The families of Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and Amira Abase, 15, have implored them to return home.
A fourth girl from the school where the missing girls studied disappeared in December and was thought to have left for Syria.