A Bangladeshi family of 12 from England, who went missing on the way back from a holiday in Dhaka, have confirmed in a statement issued by terrorists that they are in the "Islamic State".
The statement from the Mannan family, obtained from Islamic State in Iraq sources by The Times, came with accompanying photographs showing Muhammed Abdul Mannan, the head of the family, smiling and pointing to the sky and his wife in a niqab.
The 500-word "press release" is an effort to use the arrival of the family -- including a one-year-old baby -- as a propaganda tool, the newspaper reported.
"We release this statement to confirm that indeed we are in the Islamic State. A land that is free from the corruption and oppression of man-made law and is governed by the shariah, the perfect and just laws of Allah," the statement reads.
"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 every day to come to the Islamic State?" the statement states.
The words and photographs come after family sources indicated that they had received confirmation that all 12 had arrived in Syria. It emerged on Thursday that the family home was raided and one member was stopped from boarding a flight at Heathrow the day before they departed.
The statement claims that Mannan, 75, and his wife, Minera Khatun, 53, led their young adult children and grandchildren to Syria. "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," the statement reads.
They took with them Rajia Khanom, their daughter, their sons Mohammed Zayd Hussain, 25, Mohammed Toufique Hussain, 19, Mohammed Abil Kashem Saker, 31, and his wife Sheida Khanam, 27. Mohammed Saleh Hussain, 26, and his wife, Roshanara Begum, 24, along with three children, aged between one and 11, are also listed as missing.
British police have confirmed that the family from Luton, north of London, flew to Bangladesh on April 10 and then to Istanbul on May 11.
They were due back at Heathrow three days later but failed to return and were reported missing by relatives.
The news came as it emerged that two of three British schoolgirls who had fled to Syria earlier this year have been married off to IS men chosen for them.
Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and Amira Abase, 15, fled via Turkey in February and were allowed to contact their families to inform them of the their "marriage".
