Women Who Fled to Become ISIS Brides Return to Britain
Brainwashed jihadi brides are returning to Britain after being widowed or sent away by husbands preparing for a bloody final stand with the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria. The threat posed by these returning brides comes after the recent bombing in Manchester that killed 22 concertgoers and wounded 59 others.
Around 850 Britons fled the country to join ISIS. More than 50 of them are women who were lured by the false promise of an Islamic utopia and an adoring husband. More than 350 of those who left are have returned to the U.K. based on rough estimates. Counter-terrorism sources believe up to 10 brides have come back since the start of the year.
The returning ISIS sympathizers are considered as a threat due to the training they received on the use of explosives and firearms. Of the 350 who have returned, only 54 of them were prosecuted, and 30 more are facing charges. According to intelligence sources, any information gathered from them cannot be used in court.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The return of European jihadis to their home countries is branded as the "Raqqa scatter" which poses an unprecedented threat to the West. Counter-terrorism forces across the continent are preparing for violent attacks to be perpetrated by women and children who will be difficult to track due to forged documents and false identities.
"The threat women pose is likely to be greater than the available intelligence allows us to assess," a secret intelligence report said. As early as now, the flood of returning jihadists has overstretched U.K.'s security services to a breaking point, with up to 30 officers assigned to monitor one suspect on a 24-hour basis.
A British defector from the group revealed that up to 300 ISIS members from the U.K. remain in Iraq and Syria. Eighty of them are women, and at least 90 are Britsh-born children. Most of them are believed to be in contact with those who have returned, raising fears of more plots.
