ISIS Bride Sisters Stripped of British Citizenship for Marrying Jihadis in Syria
Reema and Zara Iqbal fled London, UK to join Islamic terror cells, now begging to return
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Two ISIS bride sisters, who are begging to be allowed to return to the UK after fleeing to join Islamic terror cells in Syria, have been stripped of their British citizenship as the government begins to crack down on the epidemic.
Reema and Zara Iqbal fled London in 2013 to fight alongside terrorists in the Middle East and now have five sons under the age of eight between them after marrying ISIS jihadis in Syria.
The pair was reportedly part of a five-member all-female terror cell after traveling to the war-torn country with their husbands.
The Iqbal sisters and their Portuguese-born husbands were joined by Natalie Bracht, Ruzina Khanam and Maylbongwe Sibanda as they traveled to train and fight alongside Syrian terrorists.
It's believed their husbands were radicalized in London after travelling to the British capital in the hope of becoming professional footballers.
The men, who are known associates of the infamous British-born executioner Jihadi John - known for brutally beheading Western captives in Islamic State videos -, were said to have converted to Islam after meeting notorious hate preacher Anjem Choudary.
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According to the Daily Mail, Reema Iqbal's husband Celso Rodrigues Da Costa, a former Harrods sales assistant who claimed to have had a trial with Arsenal, is one of the six who made his name as a brutal killer after traveling to Syria.
Da Costa appeared in an ISIS propaganda video, boasting of celebrating the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha by slaughtering infidels.
Despite his marriage to Iqbal, ringleader Da Costa is said to have married Natalie Bracht after grooming her over the internet.
Bracht holds dual British and German citizenship having moved to the UK from Dusseldorf in 2006 with her children.
In October last year, the five women begged to be allowed to return to Britain.
But it was revealed today that the sisters have been stripped of their British citizenship, just as Shamima Begum was last month.
The pair, from Canning Town, are thought to currently be held in a detention camp in Kurdish-controlled northern Syria.
It comes as the row over the runaway Shamima Begum continued following the death of her three-week-old son, Jerah.
It emerged on Friday that Ms. Begum, now 19, had lost her third child.
A medical certificate showed he died of pneumonia a day earlier, the BBC reported.
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According to The Sunday Times, two women, who between them have five boys under the age of eight, had their UK nationality removed after marrying into a terror cell linked to the murder of western hostages.
The paper quoted legal sources, naming the women as Reema Iqbal, 30, and her sister Zara, 28, whose parents are originally from Pakistan.
Last month Reema Iqbal told The Telegraph she was hopeful of returning to the UK.
She said: "The security services came to speak to me and I was honest, I told them my whole story so now it's up to them to judge.
"I don't know if my Mum ever got me a Pakistani passport or not, I've never been to Pakistan.
"There's not enough food for bigger families.
"It's a prison here, but we're serving no sentence.
"If I face court, fine, but take me back to the UK, that's where I'm from."
Zara was heavily pregnant with her second child when she made the journey and later had a third, the paper said, while Reema has two sons, one of whom was born in Britain.
The Home Office said it did not comment on individual cases.
A spokesman added: "Any decisions to deprive individuals of their citizenship are based on all available evidence and not taken lightly."
What to do with returning jihadi fighters has caused many Western countries problems.
Iraq announced it will be trying 13 alleged French militants while President Trump threatened to release jihadis into if European countries did not take back their own ISIS fighters.
