- Girls from east London told their families they were going out for the day
- The girls, two of whom are 15 while the other is 16, then flew to Turkey
- It is thought one of the 15-year-olds is travelling on a false passport
- The girls all go to the same school and are described as 'straight-A pupils'
- Girls were friends with pupil of same school who fled to Syria last year
- The school which the girls attended was visited by Prince Harry last year
Three schoolgirls have fled the UK in a suspected bid to travel to Syria and join ISIS.
Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and an unnamed 15-year-old, all from east London, flew to Istanbul in Turkey from Gatwick airport on Tuesday without leaving any messages behind for family or friends.
Scotland Yard detectives today appealed for any information about the missing girls, who all go to the Bethnal Green Academy school and were described as 'three normal schoolgirls' and 'straight-A students'.
Kadiza Sultana (left) and Shamina Begum (right) were last seen on Tuesday before heading to Gatwick Airport. It is believed they have gone to Syria, where ISIS have called for girls to become 'jihadi brides'
Police today appealed for information regarding the girls who are feared to be in Turkey heading for Syria
Commander Richard Walton, head of the Metropolitan Police's counter terror command, said the runaways are good friends with another 15-year-old girl who fled to Syria in December.
He said the force was becoming 'increasing concerned' about a growing trend of young girls showing an interest in joining IS, an organisation now notorious for its barbaric treatment of hostages and oppression of women.
Mr Walton added the teenagers' families were 'devastated' but he said there is a 'good chance' the girls are still in Turkey.
The youngsters, who police fear may be heading to join terror group ISIS, are all pupils at the same school and are close friends, police said.
They were last seen at their homes on Tuesday morning when they gave their families 'plausible reasons' to be out for the day. They were reported missing later that day.
The girls met at Gatwick where they got on a Turkish Airlines flight which landed in Turkey on Tuesday evening.
This afternoon, a friend of the sister of one of the girls, said he was 'shocked and saddened' by what has happened.
Sadek Miah, 17, who attends Bethnal Green Academy, described himself as a 'good friend' of Aklima Begum, the 17-year-old sister of Shamima.
He said: 'Aklima is a very nice girl, a good friend. I don't know her sister that well at all though.
'I sent out a WhatsApp message to her this afternoon when I saw what had happened, she said she would talk about it on Monday.
'I'm shocked and saddened by this. I have no idea why the girls went out to Syria and I hope the police bring them back soon.
They weren't radicalised by school, maybe by the internet.'
CCTV footage from Gatwick Airport shows Kadiza Sultana walking through security on her way to the gate
Shamima Begum at Gatwick Airport. The girls then boarded a flight to Turkey before going to Syria
Mr Walton said: 'We are extremely concerned for the safety of these young girls and would urge anyone with information to come forward and speak to police. Our priority is the safe return of these girls to their families.
'We are reaching out to the girls using the Turkish media and social media in the hope that Shamima, Kadiza and their friend hear our messages, hear our concerns for their safety and have the courage to return now, back to their families who are so worried about them.'
Shamima is possibly travelling under the name of Aklima Begum, 17, police said. The third girl is not being named at the request of her family. Both of the named girls are British-born Bangladeshis.
[Syria] is an extremely dangerous place and we have seen reports of what life is like for [young women] and how restricted their lives become. It is not uncommon for girls or women to be prevented from being allowed out of their houses.
Met Police Commander Richard Walton
Mr Walton added: 'We are concerned about the numbers of girls and young women who have or are intending to travel to the part of Syria that is controlled by the terrorist group calling themselves Islamic State.
'It is an extremely dangerous place and we have seen reports of what life is like for them and how restricted their lives become.
'It is not uncommon for girls or women to be prevented from being allowed out of their houses or if allowed out, only when accompanied by a guardian.
'The choice of returning home from Syria is often taken away from those under the control of Islamic State, leaving their families in the UK devastated and with very few options to secure their safe return.
'If we are able to locate these girls whilst they are still in Turkey, we have a good possibility of being able to bring them home to their families.'
Police said Shamima was 5ft 7in tall, and wearing black thick rimmed glasses, a black hijab, light brown and black leopard print scarf, dark red jumper, black trousers and jacket, carrying a dark blue cylindrical shape holdall with white straps.
A third girl, who is 15 and whose family have asked for her to remain anonymous, has also gone missing
The girls are all pupils at Bethnal Green Academy in Tower Hamlets, east London, a school which another girl left in similar circumstances last year
Kadiza is 5ft 6in tall, of slim build and wearing black-rimmed glasses, a long black jacket with a hood, grey striped scarf, grey jumper, dark red trousers, carrying a black holdall.
Both are British nationals, speak English with London accents and also speak Bengali.
The third girl is 5ft 6in, of slim build, wearing black thick rimmed glasses, black head scarf, long dark green jacket with fur lined hood, light yellow long sleeved top, black trousers, white trainers carrying a black Nike holdall.
She speaks English.
Scotland Yard stressed the appeal was not about 'criminalising people, it is about preventing tragedies by offering support to the young and vulnerable'.
A spokeswoman for Tower Hamlets council said: 'The council fully supports the appeal issued today by the police for information that will help to find the three students from Bethnal Green Academy in east London.
'We are working closely with the police, school and community groups to that end.
'If parents have concerns that they wish to discuss as a result of this issue, please contact the police, children's social care services, talk to staff at your children's school or to other members of your community group.'
The appeal comes after it was claimed that Muslim extremists are offering teenage girls in the UK money to marry Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.
ISIS supporters are believed to be offering cash incentives to encourage schoolgirls to travel to the group's de facto capital Raqqa and marry fighters.
It was reported in December that ISIS channels money for travel expenses through international money wire systems, enabling the group's UK cell to offer significant sums of cash to disenfranchised teenagers.
The school that the girls go to was visited by Prince Harry last August, when he met students and teachers
The royal visit came ahead of the Invictus Games, a competition for injured soldiers which the Prince backed
TERROR POLICE: BRITISH WOMEN ALREADY IN SYRIA SUSPECTED OF JOINING BAND OF ENFORCERS OF ISIS'S STRICT RULES
It is feared dozens of British women have joined Islamic State's terrifying all-female police force - who enforce the group's hardline rules with lashings, beatings and executions.
The group, called the Al-Khansa Brigade, is largely made-up of educated Western women and is believed to operate as an ultra-oppressive police force monitoring the behaviour of females in Raqqa - ISIS's de-facto capital.
Although the figures are impossible to independently verify, the Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium (TRAC) believes as many as 60 British nationals are currently members of Al-Khansa.
A 'manifesto' released by the group on the role of women claims children as young as nine should be encouraged to get married and condemns beauty parlours as the work of the devil.
Police today told of the conditions women live under in Syria, with some forbidden from going out
The document, titled 'Women in the Islamic State', demands women live a completely 'sedentary' lifestyle and that their role in life should be primarily to remain 'hidden and veiled' and at the service of men, who are described as their masters.
To avoid the crucial information being lost to English-language terror experts, the counter-extremism think tank Quilliam has now fully translated the manifesto and released its own analysis of its contents.
In stark contradiction to the way life under the rule of ISIS is portrayed on social media, the document explains that the primary duty of Western women who join the terror group is to marry a jihadi, then spend their life cooking, cleaning and raising a family.
It suggests that young Western women who spend their time online boasting of leading an exciting and fulfilling lifestyle under the rule of ISIS are lying, possibly under pressure from the group's leadership who want to encourage a greater number of women to travel to Syria and marry fighters.
'Lock up your daughters' passports': Advice issued to Muslim children's parents as families plead for return of missing 'jihadi bride' girls feared to have fled to join ISIS
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2963092/You-belong-home-Family-missing-schoolgirl-appeal-return-urge-not-cross-border-Syria.html#ixzz3SVKtkJht
'Lock up your daughters' passports': Advice issued to Muslim children's parents as families plead for return of missing 'jihadi bride' girls feared to have fled to join ISIS
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2963092/You-belong-home-Family-missing-schoolgirl-appeal-return-urge-not-cross-border-Syria.html#ixzz3SVKtkJht
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