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Mother And Four Children May Be Going To Syria

Mother And Four Children May Be Going To Syria

Police are hunting for a missing mother and her four children who are feared to be travelling to Syria.

The woman and her children - aged four to 12 - are believed to have left the country on Tuesday via London City Airport on a flight to Amsterdam.

Zahera Tariq, 33, was last seen earlier that day at her home in Walthamstow and has not been heard from since. A family member alerted police on Wednesday.

Commander Richard Walton, from Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism Command, said he was concerned for Ms Tariq and her children.

"Whilst we do have some concerns that Zahera may be thinking of travelling to Syria, there is no current information to suggest that she's already travelled there," he said.

"Her family are extremely worried about her and her three sons and daughter and we would urge anybody with information to contact us as soon as possible."

The family have been captured on CCTV at the airport, with the children pictured wearing rucksacks as their mother pushes a trolley loaded with suitcases.

A neighbour told Sky News reporter Hind Hassan she had seen Ms Tariq leave home on Tuesday wearing a niqab (face covering), and that she also normally wears an abaya (black gown).

But CCTV images from City Airport show her wearing only a headscarf and no abaya.

In the past, IS recruits have worn less obviously religious clothing when leaving the UK - in line with advice given in pamphlets for wannabe jihadists.

Police have described Ms Tariq as an Asian woman of medium build, approximately 5ft 3ins tall, with long black hair.

Her children are: Muhammad 12, medium build, approximately 5ft tall; Amaar, 11, skinny build; Safiyyah, a nine-year-old girl who is also described as skinny with long black hair; and her youngest son Aadid, four.

Another neighbour, Janick Ndala, said her younger brother used to play with the children, and she hopes they are brought back to the UK.

"This is where their life is - they have friends here, they have school here," she told Sky News.

"Their dad's here - and I'm sure he's really distraught about this. I just feel really sad for him.”

Police said they are working with Dutch authorities and other international partners to locate the group.

If confirmed, it would be the latest case in which women and children from the UK are feared to have gone to parts of Syria controlled by Islamic State.

In July it was reported that several members of the same family from Luton, including three children, were feared to have travelled to Syria.

Scotland Yard recently confirmed that it believed more than 40 women and girls had travelled to Syria from Britain in the last year.