Females fleeing UK to Syria ‘at rate of one a week’

FORTY-THREE women and girls are believed to have travelled to Syria from Britain in the last year, police have revealed.

They have been reported missing by their families to forces around the country in the 12 months from July 2014.

They are “all feared to have travelled to Syria, putting them in serious danger and leaving their families devastated”, Scotland Yard said.

It indicates females are fleeing at a rate of almost one a week, following in the footsteps of Glasgow student Aqsa Mahmood, who travelled to the country in November 2013.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Helen Ball said: “Syria is an extremely dangerous place. The reality of life there is far from the image that terrorist groups actively promote to young women here in the UK.

“Families and communities are terrified that their daughters may be lured into travelling there. In some cases the appeal for women and girls may be a belief that their life will hold more meaning if they travel, it may be a misplaced sense of ‘glamour’ of marrying a fighter; or perceived difficulty as to how to reconcile their religion with modern life so that they feel compelled to follow, as they may see it, their religious obligation by joining other women in Syria.”

Meanwhile, a jihadist fighter brought up in Scotland is f ronting an internet campaign to lure “teenage girls” into joining the Islamic State, it has been reported.

Abdul Rakib Amin, who grew up in Aberdeen, was believed to have died in a shoot out in July last year after joining Islamic State.

But new reports suggest he may have since posted controversial propaganda online.