The family of a British woman living with ISIS fighters in Syria has branded her a “disgrace” after it emerged she may have enticed three missing young UK girls to join her, The Independent, a UK tabloid is reporting.
Police, the medium said, believe that Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and Amira Abase, 15, are heading to Syria after they flew from the UK to Istanbul in Turkey on Tuesday as investigation shows that at least, one of the girls appears to have been in contact with Aqsa Mahmood over Twitter before they flew out.
Ms. Mahmood gained media attention in 2014 when she flew out to Syria to marry an ISIS fighter. Her family released a statement through their lawyer saying they were full of “horror and anger” that their daughter may have played a role in “the recruitment of these young girls to Isis”.
The Independent quoted a message directed at her by the family saying: “you are a disgrace to your family and the people of Scotland, your actions are a perverted and evil distortion of Islam. You are killing your family every day with your actions, they are begging you stop if you ever loved them.”
Investigaton further shows that on 15 February, a Twitter account appearing to belong to Ms. Begum tweeted to Ms. Mahmood to “follow me so I can dm you back” – suggesting that the women had been in contact by private direct message on the social network.
In another tweet, she appears to criticise Jabhat al-Nusra, writing that a message to the boys in JAN; if you’re gonna offer to help a sister into Shaam, stop leaving them stranded in Turkey…”
The three girls all went to school together at the Bethnal Green Academy in east London.
Ms Mahmood, who was privately educated in Scotland, left Glasgow in November 2013 to travel Syria, the tabloid reported.