3 British sisters with 9 children travel to Syria to join Islamic State

Three Pakistan-origin British sisters are feared to have travelled to Syria with their nine children to join the dreaded Islamic State militant group after they went missing on their way back from a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

Khadija, 30, Sugra, 34, and Zohra Dawood, 33, believed to be a Pakistani-origin family from Bradford in northern England and their children aged three to 15 have not made contact for a week.

They were due to return to the UK on June 11 but it is believed they, instead, boarded a flight on June 9 from Madina to Istanbul in Turkey, which is a well-trodden destination to get in to Syria.

The women’s brother is understood to be fighting with extremists in Syria.

Balaal Hussain Khan, a lawyer acting for the three fathers, said: “We’ve had no answers whatsoever, we don’t know what’s happened.”

The fathers of the children -- two of whom are in the UK and one in Pakistan -- have been “distraught, crying, they don’t know what to do,” added Khan, who said it was suspected the women had taken their children to Syria.

The fathers last spoke to their children on June 8, when they were in the Saudi city of Medina.

West Yorkshire Police said they are “extremely concerned” for the family’s safety and enquiries were continuing on a “national and international level”.

A UK Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are in contact with West Yorkshire Police and Turkish authorities and are ready to provide consular assistance.”

The Bradford family travelled to Medina on May 28 and the last sighting of the family was at the hotel in Medina.

There have been no confirmed sightings since that point, although travel agents have confirmed that ten tickets were bought for a flight from Medina to Istanbul.

Among the youngsters are Khadija’s children Maryam Siddiqui, 7, and five-year-old Muhammad Haseeb. Sugra’s children Junaid Ahmed Iqbal, 15, Ibrahim Iqbal, 14, Zaynab Iqbal, 8, Mariya Iqbal, 5, and three-year-old Ismaeel Iqbal have also disappeared.

Zohra’s missing children are Haafiyah Binte Zubair, 8, and five-year-old Nurah Binte Zubair.

The 15-year-old boy, Junaid, with the group was acting as ‘mahram’ – the male adult responsible for the family – in Saudi Arabia.

British authorities estimate more than 700 Britons have travelled to Syria, with a significant number thought to have joined IS which has taken over vast areas of the country and neighbouring Iraq.