Sharmeena Begum, a British jihadi bride who was thought to have been killed in the war against ISIS after recruiting Shamima Begum to join the death cult, has been found alive in Syria, the Mail on Sunday reports. She left her home in east London in December 2014 as a schoolgirl and travelled to Syria to join the Islamic State. A former Bethnal Green Academy pupil, Sharmeena is said to have persuaded fellow students Shamima Begum, Amira Abase and Kadiza Sultana to join her in Syria in February 2015.
Sharmeena, now 27, was thought to have been killed during the war between the terror sect and British, US and Allied forces. But the Mail on Sunday reports Sharmeena has been arrested in Syria after being traced as part of a German police investigation into an Islamic extremist attack on the Berlin Pride event in July.
German investigation and links to Berlin Pride attack
Officers from the BKA, the German version of the FBI, discovered messages between Sharmeena and terrorist Abdul Ballout. Ballout was shot dead by police after he drove a van into crowds at Berlin Pride, killing one woman and leaving 29 injured.
The Mail on Sunday reports a video was sent from Ballout to Sharmeena showing him swearing allegiance to ISIS. It is alleged the British jihadi bride was meant to pass the footage to the terror group's propaganda chief for online release after the attack.
Discovery and detention in Syria
It is understood Western intelligence agencies tracked down Sharmeena to a hideout in Syria. She could now face terror charges. She has already had her British citizenship stripped.
It is reported Sharmeena was living freely after escaping from al-Hol prison camp in northeast Syria. The detention facility once held 30,000 former ISIS fighters and their brides and families, but after it was taken over earlier this year by forces loyal to new Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa many of the inmates were set free.
Family reaction
Sharmeena's father, Mohammed Nizam Uddin, told the Mail on Sunday: "I thought she had been killed in Syria. I am relieved that she is at least alive. I did not know she had been arrested. No one from the police or the Government has told me anything about her for years."
