Father of first jihadi schoolgirl Sharmeena Begum warned police of the three other girls
THE father of a girl who fled London last year to join Islamic State in Syria said he urged police to watch her three best friends before they followed suit.
From left, Amira Abase, Kadiza Sultana, and Shamima Begum fleeing the country
Mohammad Uddin’s daughter Sharmeena Begum is thought to have travelled to the Turkish-Syrian border last December.
The 15-year-old was close friends with Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and Amira Abase, 15, who fled to Syria last month.
Mr Uddin says he told the police the three girls might also have been radicalised.
I was pretty sure when my daughter went missing that the four girls would have gone together
He said: “I said (to officers): ‘Keep an eye on the three girls, maybe they’ll give you a clue.’
"I was pretty sure when my daughter went missing that the four girls would have gone together.
"When I realised (they hadn’t) I was surprised.”
Mr Uddin said he asked Bethnal Green Academy’s deputy headmistress if he could talk to the girls after his daughter fled but was told, “The police are speaking to them, so you can’t.”