COPS RESCUE WOMAN, CHILDREN FROM I.S. IN SYRIA
They had followed her husband to Syria in 2016
POLICE arranged for a woman and her two children to come home from Idlib, Syria, where they were trapped after following her late husband, who joined the Islamic State group in Syria.
The rescue started when family members of the 31-year-old woman, known only as Aisyah, sought help from Bukit Aman to rescue her and her children, aged 2 and 5.
Aisyah, who is from Terengganu, had followed her late husband to Istanbul, Turkey, for a holiday in March 2016, but later realised that her husband planned to join the IS in Syria when they arrived.
After they reached Syria in March last year, her husband often left her and their children in Idlib, as he was always away. He was killed in February.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said following pleas from Aisyah’s family members, Bukit Aman arranged for the repatriation of the woman and her children.
“After the death of her husband, she and her children were constantly on the run and had to seek shelter from locals. They even had to sleep on the streets sometimes,” he said during a press conference at the police headquarters in Bukit Aman here yesterday.
Fuzi said after the death of her husband, Aisyah had contacted a family member and said she wanted to return to Malaysia.
“With the cooperation of the Turkish government, Foreign Ministry, Embassy of Malaysia in Turkey and Turkey’s National Intelligence Service (MIT), we contacted Aisyah and requested that she head to the Syria-Turkey border.
“It was not easy for the woman and her children as they did not have valid travel documents. However, this was overcome with the cooperation from MIT and the Turkish government,” Fuzi said.