Foreign spy 'arrested in Turkey for helping three British schoolgirls join Islamic State'

A FOREIGN spy has been arrested for allegedly helping three British schoolgirls feared to have fled to Syria to join the Islamic State (IS) terror group, according to the Turkish Foreign Minister.

schoolgirls syriaAP

Shamima Begum, Kadiza Sultan and Amira Abase are believed to have travelled to Syria to join IS

The agent in question is said to be a spy working for a country in the US-led coalition fighting against IS militants.

Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and Amira Abase, 15, triggered a police hunt after they fled their London home and flew from Gatwick Airport to Turkey last month.

In an interview published on the official Anatolia news agency, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said: "Do you know who helped those girls? He was captured.

"He was someone working for the intelligence (service) of a country in the coalition."

It is not known what country the detained man is from, however Mr Cavusoglu reportedly said that the man in question was not American or from an EU state.

missing schoolgirls syriaPA

Their disappearance triggered a police hunt

The trio, who flew to Turkey on February 17, are now believed to be staying in a house in the self-declared IS capital of Raqqa, in Syria, according to Sky sources.

CCTV images have emerged since their disappearance was announced, appearing to show the teenagers waiting at a bus stop in Istanbul on the day they are thought to have arrived in Turkey.

Reports suggest that the girls, all pupils of Bethnal Green Academy in east London, were driven to a border crossing point by people smugglers and were then met by members of IS.

Earlier this week, Metropolitan Police commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, apologised to the relatives of the missing girls after it emerged that they, as well as four other girls, were given letters to hand to their parents, as opposed to their families being sent them directly.

The letters, addressed to their relatives, informed parents that another 15-year-old fellow pupil at Bethnal Green Academy had joined the Islamic State in December and asked for permission to take formal statements.

However, the girls are understood to have not passed the letters on to their families.

Speaking at the House of Commons' Home Affairs Select Committee, Sir Hogan-Howe said: "I'm sorry that [the families] are in this situation, and I'm also sorry that the letter we intended to get to them didn't get through. Clearly, that failed.

"It was intended for them, and it failed, and for that of course we are sorry."

He added that neither their families, the police, or the school realised they may have been planning on fleeing to Syria.

He said: "The circumstances the parents find themselves in is a terrible situation and they must be worried sick, about how those girls are."

The Islamic State - What is IS?

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