Brit jihadi bride Shamima Begum, 20, fears ISIS former pals will KILL her in ‘tense’ Syria camp as revenge for quitting
BRITISH jihadi bride Shamima Begum, 20, fears her former ISIS former pals will KILL her in a "tense" refugee camp as revenge for quitting.
The former East London schoolgirl is currently living at al-Roj, nine miles from the Syrian border, in Kurdish-controlled territory under threat from a Turkey-led offensive.
Begum, who left Bethnal Green to fight for ISIS in 2015, was last housed at the squalid al-Hawl camp, just 27 miles away. She says she is ready to flee at any moment.
In an interview with , she said: “It is like the earlier days in the time of Isis.
“All the women have got a bag ready and waiting, ready to move quickly if things change.”
'REALLY SCARED'
The former ISIS bride no longer wears her black hijab, but an open-faced cloak with a nose stud and trainers.
Begum, who saw the Turkish offensive on TV, said it caused "complete shock" throughout the camp.
"There is the fear that if the Kurds leave there could be chaos here, anarchy, and that our lives would be at risk from dangerous people in this camp.
"There are some psychotic women in here.”
There is the fear that if the Kurds leave there could be chaos here, anarchy, and that our lives would be at risk from dangerous people in this camp. There are some psychotic women in here.
Shamima Begum
Begum's fears come after Russia and Turkey this week agreed that Kurdish forces - who are guarding around 10,000 ISIS fighters and their families - must withdraw from the buffer zone.
“I am scared, really scared,” she said, on the second day of the appeal's preliminary hearing.
“I am afraid I could die here. The camp is very tense. We don’t know what is going on."
Begum, who has lost all three children since joining ISIS four and a half years ago, is hoping to finally escape the Syrian camp, considered a "time bomb" by those familiar with daily violence between the campers.
FEARS FOR SAFETY
Begum is currently appealing the withdrawal of her British citizenship by the Government, but has little hope it will be successful.
Turkey's offensive on October 9 attack responded to US President Donald Trump's withdrawal of US troops from northern Syria - leaving former ISIS-fighting allies, the Kurds, vulnerable to Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan's forces.
The Sun Online previously reported that guards and aid workers were being targeted by women in al-Hawl as they "waited orders to launch terror attacks".
Horrifying pictures purportedly showed a guard with a knife plunged into his back after being stabbed by a female camper affiliated with the terror group.
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It remains unclear who will be the next to control al-Roj, after Turkey and Russia struck a deal aimed at keeping Kurdish forces away from Syria's border with Turkey.
Since the "caliphate" crumbled Begum has repeatedly begged to return to the UK, but had her citizenship revoked by then home secretary Sajid Javid.
Begum is bringing proceedings against the Home Office before the High Court and the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC), a specialist court which hears challenges to decisions to remove someone's British citizenship on national security grounds.
