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