Turkey arrests Syria-bound British family
Turkey arrests Syria-bound British family
Turkey said on Tuesday it has detained a mother travelling on British passport, and her four children after they suspected she was bound for Syria to join Islamic State.
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Syrians are enduring unspeakable horrors at the hands of IS and regime. [Anadolu]
Turkish authorities have detained Zahera Tariq, 33, and her four children aged four to 12 after counter-terrorism police suspected she was headed to Syria to join Islamic State group (IS).
The mother and her children left their home in Waltham Forest, east of the UK capital London last week and borded a flight from London City Airport to the Dutch city of Amsterdam.
London police had feared that the family was headed to Syria.
“We had very real concerns that she may have been planning to travel with her children to Syria and she has now been detained with her children in Turkey,” said Richard Walton, of London Metropolitan Police's counter-terrorism command.
According to police reports, Tariq’s husband, Yasair Mahmmoud, 42, reported to the police that his family went missing last Wednesday after discovering they were gone.
British police have confirmed the mother and her children were ‘well and safe’, and that Britain was working closely with the Turkish authorities to bring the family back to the UK.
It has been estimated that 700 potential volunteers have traveled to Syria. The official count for women thought to have travelled from the UK to Syria last year is recorded to be 43.
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