ENGLAND - London schoolgirls who fled to Syria have lost contact with families

The parents of the three east London schoolgirls who fled to Syria to join the Islamic State last year have lost contact with the runaways, a lawyer for the girls’ families has said. 

The teenagers, Shamima Begum, Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase, entered Syria through Turkey after taking a flight from London’s Gatwick Airport last February. The three girls had apparently become radicalized and took off to follow an unnamed 15-year-old friend who left the UK in December 2014. All four teens are believed to have married western jihadi fighters, with two of the girls already widowed.

Tasminme Akunjee, a lawyer for two of the girls’ families, said that relatives have not been able to get in touch with the teens since mid-December. The girls have been living in the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) stronghold of Raqqa, which has in recent weeks come under heavy fire from Russian and Western coalition airstrike's.

INC News, 20/01/2016 - source: ©RTNews