Entire British Family of 12 Who Joined ISIS in Syria now Dead

Entire British Family of 12 Who Joined ISIS in Syria now Dead
Group photo of the Mannan family, who left their British home in Luton in 2015 to join ISIS in Syria. (Bedfordshire Police)
Tom Ozimek
6/28/2019
Updated:
6/28/2019

A family of 12 who fled their British home in 2015 to join ISIS in Syria have all reportedly died.

Seven members of the Mannan family, including three children aged between one and 11, were “wiped out” in an airstrike, MailOnline reported, citing a relative.

Three men from the clan were reportedly killed in combat, while two elderly members of the family—Muhammed Mannan and his wife Minera—died of natural causes while living in the former capital of the terror group.

Speaking from the family’s hometown in Luton, Mannan’s son Shalim told MailOnline: “They are all dead. It’s over, finished. We had been trying to find out for some time what had happened to them and it was only confirmed to us recently from Syria.

The son, from Mannan’s previous marriage, added, “It’s a tragic end and we have drawn a line under it all and are now trying to get on with our lives.”

‘Completely Out of Character’

The Mannan family was reported missing in 2015 by two sons, understood to be Mannan’s from a previous marriage, the BBC reported. They flew to Bangladesh on April 10, 2015, police cited in the report said, and then to Istanbul, Turkey, on May 11.
They were scheduled to return to the UK several days later but failed to do so, prompting Bedfordshire Police to launch a search. Relatives of the family in Britain released a statement through police, describing the disappearance as “completely out of character.”

A friend of one of the teenage members of the family told the BBC he thought the family had been “tricked.”

But several weeks later in July, the family released a statement confirming they had fled the UK to join ISIS, noting that “we feel safer than we have ever felt before.”

The statement, sent to the BBC by a British ISIS member, also said: “Yes, all 12 of us and why should this number be shocking, when there are thousands and thousands of Muslims from all corners of the world that are crossing over land and sea everyday to come to the Islamic State?

“Don’t be shocked when we say that none of us were forced against our will. In fact it is outrageous to think that an entire family could be kidnapped and made to migrate like this.”

But a friend of 19-year-old Mohammed Toufique Hussain, reportedly one of the Mannan family members who went to Syria, said he suspects the statement may be a fabrication.

“That doesn’t seem right to be honest. I don’t think they would say stuff like that,” he told the BBC.

Mohammed Toufique Hussain, shown here aged 19, was one of the 12 Mannan family members who left Luton to join ISIS in Syria in 2015. (Bedfordshire Police)
Mohammed Toufique Hussain, shown here aged 19, was one of the 12 Mannan family members who left Luton to join ISIS in Syria in 2015. (Bedfordshire Police)
“I don’t know but I heard they [ISIS] could make you say whatever they want, obviously if someone puts a gun to your head what would you say?” he said.

Death Penalty for Supporting Terrorism

Separately, British-born ISIS bride Shamima Begum could face the death penalty for supporting terrorism if she goes to Bangladesh, the country’s foreign minister told ITV news.

Abdul Momen said in a May 2 interview that his government “had nothing to do with” Begum and insisted she is not a citizen of Bangladesh.

Shamima Begum being interviewed by Sky News in northern Syria on Feb. 17, 2019. (Reuters)
Shamima Begum being interviewed by Sky News in northern Syria on Feb. 17, 2019. (Reuters)

Citing security concerns, the UK Home Office stripped the 19-year-old of British citizenship in February, blocking her return from Syria, where she remains in a refugee camp. The move is permissible under law provided it does not make Begum stateless. British authorities believed Begum is eligible for Bangladeshi citizenship.

The foreign minister said Begum could be arrested if she did go to Bangladesh and, if found guilty of involvement in terrorism, “she should be hanged.”

“If anyone is found to be involved with terrorism, we have a simple rule, there will be capital punishment. And nothing else,” Momen told ITV.

Returning ISIS Brides

Begum has pleaded to be allowed to come back to the UK after running away from her London home in 2015 to travel to the so-called ISIS caliphate and join the jihadi terror cult.

She surfaced in Syria in February after escaping, along with other jihadi brides, from the last ISIS stronghold as it crumbled under the pressure of the allied forces.

The formerly unapologetic Begum later expressed regret about joining ISIS and acknowledged she had been “brainwashed.”
Speaking to The Times of London in the al-Roj refugee camp in Syria on April 1, Begum said, “I do regret having children in the caliphate” and appealed to British authorities to be allowed to return to the UK.

“I came thinking it would be a place of belonging where I could raise a family safely,” Begum was cited by The Times as saying. “But it was not a place to have children.”

A subsequent Sunday Times report said two more women from the UK who were in Syrian camps with their young children were stripped of their British citizenship.

The two women, who between them have five boys under the age of 8, had their UK nationality revoked after marrying into an ISIS terror cell linked to the murder of Western hostages, according to the report.

Tom Ozimek is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times. He has a broad background in journalism, deposit insurance, marketing and communications, and adult education.
twitter
Related Topics