Schoolgirls Believed To Have Crossed Into Syria

Police say they have reason to believe the girls have crossed the Turkish border as they reject criticism over the disappearance.

    

 

Police searching for three British schoolgirls who travelled to Turkey believe the trio have already crossed the border into Syria.

Tonight Scotland Yard said counter-terrorism officers leading the investigation "now have reason to believe that they are no longer in Turkey and have crossed into Syria".
A spokesman added: "Officers continue to work closely with the Turkish authorities on this investigation."

The girls were students at Bethnal Green Academy in east London

Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and 15-year-old Amira Abase sparked a police hunt after they flew to Istanbul from Gatwick Airport last Tuesday.
Relatives of the three schoolgirls have made emotional pleas for them to come home amid fears they may have been recruited by jihadists on the internet.

1/7

1. 
   Amira Abase, who was not originally named
2. 
   Gallery: Three Schoolgirls From East London Go Missing

   These pictures were taken from Kadiza Sultana (l) and Shamima Begum's (r) Twitter accounts
3. 
   Kadiza and Shamima are feared to be on their way to Syria with a third girl, 15-year-old Amira Abase
4. 
   Scotland Yard is urgently trying to trace the three teenage girls, who are from the same east London school
5. 
   CCTV captured images of the girls at Gatwick Airport before boarding a flight to Turkey
8. 
   Amira Abase, who was not originally named
9. 
   Gallery: Three Schoolgirls From East London Go Missing

   These pictures were taken from Kadiza Sultana (l) and Shamima Begum's (r) Twitter accounts

    

    

Earlier, police denied a claim from Turkey that it took three days to tell the Turkish authorities about the missing girls after criticism from Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc.
They claim Turkish authorities were told within 24 hours of the girls going missing last Tuesday.
As many as 500 Britons are thought to have made their way to Syria or Iraq to join the jihadists and Turkey has said it needs more detailed and faster information from Western intelligence agencies to intercept them.

The girls were students at Bethnal Green Academy in east London. Yesterday the school said it had "no evidence" they were at risk from radicalisation despite another pupil disappearing in December.
The school's principal Mark Keary revealed that police had previously spoken to Shamima, Kadiza and Amira and found "no evidence that the girls were at risk of absconding".
SKY