Family Heading To Syria Arrested In Turkey

A British couple with four children who were believed to be heading for Syria have been arrested in Turkey.

Asif Malik and his partner, Sara Kiran, were detained in Ankara, the capital, on Monday.

The family, from Slough, Berkshire, were reported missing on 16 April.

Their four children, aged between seven and one, were also taken into custody.

On Sunday, British police appealed for information about the family, who have not been seen in England for around two weeks.

British authorities said they had no reason to believe the family would take part in any fighting in Syria.

They said it was not clear whether they were sympathetic to Islamic State (IS) or the regime of Bashar al Assad.

The Turkish official, however, said authorities there believe the family was aiming to go to territory controlled by IS.

Hundreds of Europeans are thought to travelled to the Middle East to join IS, which aims to impose a strict form of Islam on territory it has seized in Syria and Iraq.

Police released a new CCTV image on Monday of the family preparing to board a ferry from Dover to Calais on 8 April.

It is believed they then travelled south through Europe, possibly by train, before passing through Budapest in Hungary on or around 12 April.

The official said that British authorities provided information to Turkish counterparts on Sunday and that police were able to track the family from the Greek border, which they crossed by bus on 16 April.

Relatives of the family had released a statement through police urging the family to return home.

Thames Valley Police said they were working with Turkish authorities.