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Syria-bound mother arrested on UK return

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Press Trust of India London
A woman who went missing with her four children amid fears they were heading to Islamic State (ISIS)-held Syrian territory has been arrested on her return to the UK.

Scotland Yard said the 33-year-old had been arrested at Luton Airport on suspicion of child abduction.

The Met Police had made an appeal for information after the family went missing from Waltham Forest last week and they were detained in Turkey on Tuesday.

The woman's four children are under police protection, the Met said.

The woman and her children, aged between four and 12, were last seen on August 25 boarding a flight to Amsterdam from London City Airport.
 

Detectives later found the family had been pictured on security cameras at the airport.

Police said that "due to concerns she [the woman] was intending to travel to Syria with her children" an appeal for information was launched.

Officers then received official confirmation on Tuesday that the family had been detained in Turkey by Turkish authorities.

Hundreds of British men and women, including young schoolchildren, are believed to have fled to ISIS-held territories in Syria in the past few years to join so-called "jihad" in the war-torn region.

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First Published: Sep 04 2015 | 5:48 PM IST

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