Baladi News
Up to 100 British children may have been born to Islamic State brides in Syria, sources have suggested, creating a huge security headache for the Government, as it seeks to strip dual national jihadists of UK citizenship.
Last week Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, announced that he had revoked the British passport of former east London schoolgirl, Shamima Begum, a decision that her Bangladeshi father has now said he supports.
Around 150 British girls and women are thought to have travelled to Syria to join Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil), with almost all marrying and giving birth in the self-declared caliphate.
A further 50 older children were taken to Syria by their parents, but around a quarter of those are thought to have been killed.
The Soufan Centre, a counter-terrorism research organisation based in the US, estimates that there are as at least 700 children born to foreign jihadis still in Syria.
Many of the youngsters will have witnessed appalling scenes of violence including executions and beheadings, while some of the older children may have even been coerced into take part in crimes against humanity.
A briefing paper published by Soufan has warned that Western countries must have a strategy to deal with the children should they return home.
They warned: "The physical territory of the caliphate is gone, but its core ideology has already been implanted in countless young and impressionable children.
The large number of British children born in Isil territory could also complicate matters for the Government which has signaled that any Isil sympathisers with dual nationality will be stripped of their British citizenship.
Source: The Telegraph.