Counter
terrorism officers are hunting for two British teenage girls feared to
have fled to join jihadis in Syria, including a 15-year-old whose mother
has begged her to come home.
Officers
from the South East Counter Terrorism unit are supporting the families
of 15-year-old Yusra Hussien and the 17-year-old girl from Lambeth,
south London, who flew to Turkey last week in the hope of crossing the
border to Syria.
A police spokesman said: 'They are working to identify where the girls are and to encourage them to return safely.'
Meanwhile Yusra's mother, Safiya Hussien, today spoke of her agony at not knowing where her daughter was.
Safety concerns: A counter terror expert has warned that Yusra may end up marrying an Islamic terrorist
Flanked by Yusra's aunts, Mrs Hussien, a school dinner lady, spoke at a police press conference in Bristol
In
an emotional police press conference, Safiya Hussien appealed directly
to 15-year-old Yusra, who has now been missing for a week, saying: 'From
your mother - please dear Yusra, I love and I miss you, my heart is
torn, and I want you home as soon as possible.
'Your brothers and baby sister are missing you and the house has not been the same since you left.'
Mrs
Hussien, a primary school dinner lady, read out a joint statement from
her and her husband, youth worker Mohammed, and said they were both
'heartbroken' at their daughter's disappearance.
'We
are struggling to come to terms with this situation,' she said. 'The
pain that we as parents feel at not knowing her safety is very
distressing.
'As every day passes, we become more and more concerned about her safety and welfare.'
Flanked
by Yusra's aunts, Sucdi Ali and Ikram Mohamed, Mrs Hussien added: 'From
your father: Yusra, I'm not angry, I just want you to be safe. Please
come back.
'We are working with the police to find you and we are praying to god that we will find you safe and bring you back home.'
Mrs Hussien, seen leaving her Bristol home ahead of the press conference, said her children missed Yusra
Mrs Hussien wiped her eyes with her hijab as she spoke of her family's agony since Yusra disappeared
Yusra's
parents, who also have three sons and a baby daughter, spoke out after a
terror expert warned their daughter, a Year 11 student at The City
Academy, may be told she could best serve jihad by marrying an Islamic
terrorist.
Describing
their elder daughter as 'A very young, bright, bubbly girl who is loved
by not only her family but her peers, teachers and her community', they
added: 'She's a typical teenager - she loves to play table tennis and
to ride her bicycle and she used to run with her brother, who's the next
Usain Bolt.'
Yusra's
parents added: 'Yusra we are missing you. If you are watching this
please contact us - you are not in trouble and we are not angry with
you. We just want you back home with us.'
Sucdi
Ali, said the family was 'not here to talk about ISIS' but said the
issue of how Yusra was able to board a plane needed to be examined.
'That is something that our Government, our security needs to work on - a child travelling on a school day,' Miss Ali said.
'We
have a teenage girl missing, we don't know where she is, that's the
point here. A 15-year-old girl is missing from our family. If she's in
danger, we have no clue.
Yusra, a Year 11 student, left her home in Bristol, above, last Wednesday, feared to be heading for Syria
'We
are a Muslim family, we do things that need to be done but we are not
here to talk about ISIS, we are here to talk about Yusra.'
Yusra,
who is thought to have been exposed to jihadi propaganda on the
internet, boarded a flight to Istanbul under the noses of police and
border control officials at Heathrow.
She
is believed to be with a 17-year-old girl from Lambeth, South London,
whom she arranged to meet at the airport, and to have flown to Turkey in
order to enter Syria, where Islamic State fighters control large
areas.
Haras
Rafiq, an outreach officer for the counter-extremism think tank the
Quilliam Foundation, warned Yusra may have gone to become a jihadi
bride.
He
said: 'We suspect what's happened is that she met up with somebody here
in London, she travelled from Bristol to London, so she already had
this romantic notion.
'She already probably believes that she's going to go and get married so one of two things will happen.
'It's
more than likely that she will actually go and become a jihadi bride.
She at the age of 15 will marry somebody who she considers to be a holy
warrior.
Friends and family leaving Yusra's home in Easton where the schoolgirl's family are desperate for news
Mrs Hussien said: 'The house has not been the same since you left - please dear Yusra, come back'
'Either
she will have a role to play in the so-called Islamic State. In this
case she's not a professional - she's not a doctor, she's not an
engineer etc.
'It's
more than likely that she will actually go and become a jihadi bride.
She at the age of 15 will marry somebody who she considers to be a holy
warrior and that's how she will play a part in the jihad.'
The
teenager has not been seen since 7am last Wednesday when she left home,
supposedly to go to school. She is believed to have taken a coach to
Heathrow, and her father only realised she was missing when he went to
collect her from school that afternoon.
Authorities fear the Bristol schoolgirl may be heading to fight with ISIS in Syria, above, after being radicalised
A
family friend said the teenager, who wears a headscarf, had not asked
for any money and her parents were unaware of any cash she could have
used to pay for her flight – suggesting that whoever recruited her may
also have bought her tickets.
Local
councillor Afzal Shah, who spent time with the family at their home
yesterday, said they had noticed Yusra use her phone and computer a lot
recently.
'The
family have not been able to make contact with Yusra,' he said. 'The
understanding I have is that the radicalisation is self-radicalisation
as opposed to any institution.
'There
are so many forums and chatrooms on the internet that it's easy to be
led astray. I don't know how she got to that stage but she was
radicalised at that stage.'
He
added: 'This is a young girl, she was an A* student, nobody had any
indication of it whatsoever. She was very focused in her studies.
'Even
when she would go to any reading circles she would be accompanied by a
family member. She is a very intelligent individual.
'Her family are loving individuals who always put their children first. They are completely shocked.'
Family spokesman Hibaq Jama said Yusra's parents were 'devastated - they have no idea where she is'
Mr Shah said police believe Yusra may already be in the east of Turkey near the border with Syria.
He
added: 'IS is a menace to the whole of society and have nothing to do
with the Muslim faith. They're violent and extortionist thugs. It's
absolutely tragic. The family had no clue.'
Anira
Khokhar, speaking for the family, described Yusra as an 'intelligent,
beautiful young lady. The family have lost a daughter and that is the
most important thing here,' she said. 'They are just a family whose
daughter is somewhere they are unaware of and she is in danger.'
Another source close to Yusra's family said they feared she had become brainwashed on the internet.
Up to 50 British girls and young women are feared to have gone to the Middle East to join the jihadis.
It
is claimed that Yusra was introduced to the London-based radical – who
is also from a Somalian family – by a third girl, who is now being
sought in Bristol.
Family home: A neighbour said the Hussiens were 'a very nice family - the father is always there for his kids'
Police were at Yusra's family home in Easton today as a family spokesman said they feared for her safety
Last
night Avon and Somerset Police refused to explain how Yusra would have
been able to fly without her parents to Turkey – a popular transit point
for would-be jihadis - at a time of heightened security.
It
was unclear which airline Yusra and the other girl flew on, and what
rules it has in place for unaccompanied minors. Louisa Rolfe, assistant
chief constable of Avon and Somerset, said: 'Since she was reported
missing by her parents we've carried out extensive work to trace her
footsteps from the time she left home to her arrival in Istanbul.
'There
are indications she may have been radicalised but at the moment our
priority is to find her before she crosses the border to Syria and make
sure she is safe.'
She
added: 'We must all be vigilant and ready to spot the signs of
radicalisation. Often, young Muslims who go to Syria can be naive and
don't recognise that they are being sucked into joining extremist
groups.'
Radicalised: Twins Zahra (left) and Salma (right) Halane, 16, ran away to Syria from their home in Manchester
Young Britons joining the extremists have also included Reyaad Khan (left), a former star pupil from Cardiff
Many of the British women who have gone to join IS are believed to be based at the group's stronghold in Raqqa, eastern Syria.
Some
are as young as 14 or 15, and travelling to marry jihadis, bear their
children and join communities of militants. Twin sisters Zahra and Salma
Halane, 16, left their Manchester home in July without their parents'
knowledge to follow their brother to Syria. Both are reportedly now
married to IS fighters.
Experts say a small number of the women are taking up arms.
Some British women and girls have posted pictures of themselves carrying AK-47s, grenades and in one case a severed head.
Yesterday
two police officers were standing guard outside The City Academy,
Bristol, where classmates say she is an A-grade student who has a very
bright future and wants to be a dentist. A friend, 15, who had a history
lesson with Yusra the day before she went missing, said she seemed
'completely normal'.
'I
was sat next to her and she seemed fine,' she said. 'She didn't have
any new friends that we knew about, and she was a completely normal
girl.'
Abdi
Omar, 26, who lives next to the family's six-bedroom Victorian terrace,
said the family's plight had been mentioned at the local mosque, which
serves a predominantly Somali congregation.
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