Headlines
Teenagers tried to join IS sent back to Britain
Istanbul, March 16
Turkey said on Sunday that
three British teenagers allegedly trying to join the Islamic State (IS)
militant group in Syria were detained in a Turkish airport and sent back
to Britain.
The teenagers arrived at the Ataturk Airport in
Istanbul through Spain. Turkish intelligence officers spotted the trio
and identified as Gafur H, Muhammed N. and Muhammed Abdulla H, Xinhua
reported.
Turkish and British police have intensified their
cooperation after three British girls went missing from East London in
early February and reportedly arrived in Turkey to cross into Syria.
Police
in London said they had been made aware that two 17-year-old boys had
gone missing and were thought to be travelling to Syria. Further
inquiries revealed they had traveled with a 19-year-old male.
Three British schoolgirls entered Turkey last month and are thought to have joined the IS group in Syria.
On
Thursday, the Turkish foreign minister said the girls had been helped
to cross the border by a spy working for one of the country's in the
US-led coalition against the militants.
The Turkish police
intelligence group has monitored more than a thousand people arriving in
Turkey this year, and sent nearly half of them back to their countries.