Fears for fugitive Isis brides

Female Isis supporters. Photo / AP

Three British teenage girls were reported to be on the run from Isis (Islamic State) raising fears it might be the London schoolgirls who fled there earlier this year.

An unofficial monitor in Iraq claimed the terror group was hunting for three British jihadi brides who had fled after being married off to Isis militants.

They were said to be aged around 16 and that Isis was "thoroughly searching for them" in Mosul.

The report, from the Mosul Eye Facebook page, said the identity of the girls was not known, raising fears the girls could be Shamima Begum and Amira Abase, both 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16, who left Bethnal Green in February to follow a friend to Syria.

Last month they were believed to be in the Syrian city of Raqqa, but Mosul is only a six-hour drive over the border.

Police and security sources were aware of the report which was released on the Facebook page of Mosul Eye, who purports to be a blogger in Iraq who set up the page "to communicate what's happening in Mosul to the rest of the world, minute by minute".

He opposes Isis and remains anonymous, writing in detail in both English and Arabic about the inner-workings of the group, their execution of civilians and casualties they suffer from coalition air-strikes.

On May 2, Mosul Eye posted: "Three girls, (Foreigners-British) married to [Isis] militants, reported missing, and [Isis] announced to all its check points to search for them. It is believed that those girls have escaped."

In a later post he added: "The latest info I got on them is they are still on the run, but still in Mosul, and [Isis] is thoroughly searching for them and hasn't captured them yet. They are Brits, not immigrants, and they are very young teens (around 16 years old)."

In his latest postings, on May 7, he talked of Isis militants plundering money from locals, whipping a young man 60 times for not closing his shop during prayer time and the public executions of civilians for minor transgressions of Sharia law.