British ‘jihadi bride’ Shamima Begum’s baby has died in Syrian refugee camp, US-backed group says
- Begum, 19, who ran away from her London home in 2015 to join Islamic State and marry a militant, gave birth last month in a refugee camp in northeast Syria
- Her two previous children have also died
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The baby son of Shamima Begum, a British-born teenager who left London to join Islamic State, has died in Syria, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces said Friday.
SDF spokesman Mustefa Bali said he could confirm the death but declined to specify how or when it happened. He had previously denied the baby had died in a Twitter post that has since been deleted.
Begum, 19, a so-called jihadi bride who ran away from her London home to marry an Islamic State fighter, who is now also dead, gave birth last month in a refugee camp in northeast Syria.
She travelled from East London to Syria in 2015 and said she had previously given birth to two other children. They are said to have also died, apparently from illness and malnutrition.
Britain stripped Begum of her citizenship last month despite her wishes to return to the country, although the government hinted her newborn son could be treated differently.
Her case has highlighted a dilemma facing many European countries, divided over whether to allow jihadists and IS sympathisers home to face prosecution or bar them from entry.
A mass exodus from the jihadists’ last redoubt in eastern Syria has sparked a humanitarian emergency, as the SDF leads an offensive to smash the last remnants of the IS “caliphate”.
The International Rescue Committee on Friday said that 12,000 women and children had arrived at the Kurdish-run Al-Hol camp since Wednesday.
Since December at least 100 people have died en route to the camp or soon after arriving, mostly children under five, the IRC said.
