British jihadi brides have had 100 children

UP TO 100 British children may have been born to Isil brides in Syria, sources have suggested, creating a security headache for the Government as it seeks to strip dual-national jihadists of their UK citizenship.

Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, last week announced that he had revoked the British passport of Shamima Begum – the former east London schoolgirl who travelled to Syria in 2014 to join Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – a decision that her Bangladeshi father has now said he supports.

But the Government was forced to concede that her son Jarrah, who is just a week old, was a British citizen who had every right to return to the UK.

Around 150 British girls and women are thought to have joined Isil in Syria, with almost all marrying and giving birth in the self-declared caliphate. A further 50 older children were taken by their parents, but around a quarter are thought to have been killed.

The Soufan Centre, a counter-terrorism research organisation based in the US, estimates that there are at least 700 children born to foreign jihadists still in Syria. Many will have witnessed appalling scenes of violence, while some of the older children may have been coerced into taking part in crimes against humanity.

A briefing paper published by Soufan has warned that Western countries must have a strategy to deal with the children should they return home.

“The physical territory of the caliphate is gone, but its core ideology has already been implanted in countless young and impressionable children,” the paper warned.

Ahmed Ali, the father of Ms Begum, said he agreed with the Government’s decision to revoke her UK citizenship.

Mr Ali, who now lives in Bangladesh, said: “If the law of the land says that it is correct to cancel her citizenship then I agree. If she at least admitted she made a mistake then I would feel sorry for her and other people would feel sorry.”

Among other British women to have given birth in Syria are Reema Iqbal, from London, who was married to an Isil fighter who boasted of “slaughtering infidels like sheep”. She has said she wants to return with her two children.