Missing British schoolgirls feared to have joined Islamic State 'now in Syria', police say

THREE missing British schoolgirls who travelled to Turkey to join the Islamic State have crossed the border into Syria, police believe.

Kadiza Sultana,16, Shamima Begum,15, and 15-year-old Amira Abase going through security at GatwickPA

Kadiza Sultana,16, Shamima Begum,15, and 15-year-old Amira Abase going through security at Gatwick

Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and 15-year-old Amira Abase triggered a police hunt after they flew from Gatwick Airport to Istanbul last week.

The girls are "straight A students" at Bethnal Green Academy in east London.

Sources revealed the girls have now entered Syria, near the south-central Kilis border crossing.

Scotland Yard tonight confirmed counter-terror officers "now have reason to believe that they are no longer in Turkey and have crossed into Syria".

"Officers continue to work closely with the Turkish authorities on this investigation," a Met Police spokesman added.

Police handout of the three straight-A British schoolgirls now in Syria  PA

Police handout of the three straight-A British schoolgirls now in Syria

It is a condemnable act for Britain to let three girls come to Istanbul and then let us know three days later

Turkish deputy prime minister Bulent Arinc

The news comes amid reports British authorities waited three days before alerting Turkey over the missing schoolgirls.

Turkish deputy prime minister Bulent Arinc said UK officials would be accountable should the search prove fruitless because of the delay.

He said: "It is a condemnable act for Britain to let three girls come to Istanbul and then let us know three days later. They haven't taken the necessary measures.

"The search is ongoing. It would be great if we can find them. But if we can't, it is not us who will be responsible, but the British."

However, Scotland Yard today denied the reports and said they began working with Turkish authorities the day after the first two teenagers were reported missing a week ago.

A Met Police statement said: "Once we established that the girls had travelled to Turkey, police made contact with the foreign liaison officer at the Turkish Embassy in London on Wednesday, 18 February.

"Since then we have been working closely with the Turkish authorities who are providing great assistance and support to our investigation."

Syria girls: Trio 'not radicalised' at Bethnal Green Academy

A public appeal for information about the missing girls was launched by police on Friday, three days after the girls boarded their flight to Turkey.

Questions have also been raised about what contact the girls may have had with extremists after a message sent from a Twitter account under the name of Shamima Begum was sent to Aqsa Mahmood - who left Glasgow for Syria to be a "jihadi bride" in 2013.

The criticism comes after Prime Minister David Cameron urged airlines and internet companies to do more to prevent radicalised British teenagers travelling to the Middle East.

Earlier, the girls' headteacher said he was "shocked and saddened" by the girls' disappearance, but said police had not found evidence that they were radicalised at school.

Mark Keary, principal of Bethnal Green Academy, said officers spoke to the girls after another student disappeared in December and indicated at the time that there was no evidence that they were at risk of being radicalised or absconding.

He also said access to social media at the school was "strictly regulated". 

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