London schoolgirl who travelled to Syria to join IS 'feared dead'

One of three schoolgirls who left east London last year to join so-called Islamic State (IS) is believed to have been killed in a Russian air strike in Syria, her family solicitor has said.

Kadiza Sultana was 16 when she left Bethnal Green along with two friends.

Her family's lawyer, Tasnime Akunjee, told News they heard a report of her death in Raqqa a few weeks ago.

But he said they had not been able to independently confirm it because of the nature of information from Syria.

Mr Akunjee said the teenager had grown disillusioned and wanted to leave IS and return to the UK - but had decided not to risk being captured and facing a "brutal" punishment from the terror group.

He told the programme the family were "obviously devastated".

Mr Akunjee added: "There's nothing worse than finding out your sibling or family member's been killed and by all accounts she was a young girl with a very promising future - and it's a great loss to us all really.

"Every effort was made from the very beginning to try and avoid this fateful news and despite all efforts it's unfortunate that we find ourselves with the loss of a young life."

Kadiza Sultana and schoolfriends Shamima Begum and Amira Abase, both 15 at the time, flew from Gatwick to Turkey on 17 February 2015 after telling their parents they were going out for the day.

The Bethnal Green Academy pupils later entered Syria and were thought to be living in Raqqa, a stronghold for the so-called Islamic State.

They had been studying for their GCSEs at the school in Tower Hamlets, east London - where they have been described as "straight-A students".

Mr Akunjee said of Kadiza Sultana: "She had expressed a desire to come back. The problem with that was the risk factors around leaving are quite terminal also, in that if ISIS [IS] were able to detect and capture you then their punishment is quite brutal for trying to leave.

"In the week where she was thinking of these issues a young Austrian girl had been caught trying to leave ISIS territory and was by all reports beaten to death publicly, so - given that that was circulated in the region as well as outside - I think Kadiza took that as a bad omen and decided not to take the risk."

Asked why she had wanted to leave, Mr Akunjee added: "I think she found out pretty quickly that the propaganda doesn't match up with the reality."

A fourth girl from the school is believed to have travelled to Syria in December 2014.

Last year, a solicitor for the families said two of the girls had got married, without identifying which ones.

The Bethnal Green schoolgirls were among more than 800 Britons who are believed to have left the UK to join IS or other militant groups in Syria and Iraq,