395:. She gave several interviews for the documentary and revealed close relationships with terrorist fighters she had in Syria. On the documentary, it was revealed that Shakil, despite claiming to have in fact never married in Syria, had messaged several people during her time there telling them she had moved out with her new husband. It is believed that the man she may have married was American ISIS fighter Russell Dennison, and Shakil admitted in the documentary that she knew the man and had "an arrangement" with him, but that she did not want to say any more. She had previously refused to comment on this and other matters at all in 2018 interviews, as she was still on license from prison. When asked if she was a 'terrorist' in the documentary she denied it, saying that "I don't think I would be sitting here, having gone through everything I'd been through, on this very tough journey, if I was" and that "I came back knowing what I'd have to face: possible prison, having my child removed from me". This is despite the fact that Shakil previously said that when she escaped from Syria she did not realise she would face further punishment.
363:"You told lie after lie to the police and in court... including that you were kidnapped, were not responsible for any tweets and any incriminating photographs were staged against your will. Most alarming is the fact that you took your son and how he was used. The most abhorrent photographs were those taken of your son wearing a balaclava with an ISIS logo and specifically the photograph of your son, no more than a toddler, standing next to an AK47 under a title which, translated from the Arabic, means "Father of the British jihad". You were well aware that the future which you had subjected your son to was very likely to be indoctrination and thereafter life as a terrorist fighter."
402:, another British woman who had travelled to join ISIS and who had become the subject of a large public debate over whether she should be allowed to return, should not be allowed to come back to the UK. A number of British women who went to Syria to join the Islamic State remain in refugee camps there and there is a wide public debate on what should be done with these British citizens if they want to return.
350:
since 2014. Shakil, however, continued to claim that "I just wanted to live an
Islamic life, not to kill anybody". She accepted that she was aware of the eminent news reports about ISIS before had gone, but said she hadn't heard they were committing atrocities, something her trial judge would later reject as manifestly false. Evidence such as a picture she had taken with an
138:, yet would later claim that she had never agreed with killing anyone. Amongst other lies her trial judge concluded she made were her claims that she had not known that ISIS had committed atrocities before she went, her stories that she had been "kidnapped" to Syria (before admitting she had gone of her own free will), and what
197:", although she conflictingly claimed in the 2021 documentary on her that she had never realised when researching ISIS before she left that women were expected to get married when there, claiming she had found nothing that had said that. However, police later discovered that she had regularly engaged with a number of
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The case received international press attention. Shakil's father declared that she had done "nothing wrong" and that she was "the perfect daughter". Shakil later said she "couldn't believe" that she had been charged with being a member of ISIS, but accepted in 2021 that she had realised that going to
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by
British police. There have been a number of critics of Shakil's escape story, particularly due to her claims that she had been initially allowed to leave the home for single women by its authoritarian owner to go and buy internet credit. Experts at her later trial would testify that this would not
147:
Shakil claimed that she soon grew disillusioned with the
Islamic State she had chosen to join and wanted to escape, later complaining that there was "no police there for me to ring to help". She returned to the UK but was quickly arrested. She was released from prison in 2018 and was subsequently the
172:
with her recently-born son, lying to friends by saying that she was going on a family beach holiday, before crossing into ISIS stronghold Syria. On the day she arrived in Syria she messaged friends and told them she would not be returning to
Britain and told her family it was her responsibility as a
354:
was presented. Shakil claims that the weapon belonged to the husband of the owner of the single-women house, and that he "must have left it and gone somewhere" and the women and her then started taking pictures with it, and she says there is "nothing else to that picture". She says that the picture
349:
The prosecution, however, asserted that she in fact knew full well what she had been doing when she went to Syria, as evidenced by the fact that she had not only encouraged acts of terrorism in messages to others but called for others to come and fight for the
Islamic State and had researched Syria
358:
The jury did not believe her version of events and she was found guilty and sentenced to four years' imprisonment for being a member of ISIS and two years for encouraging acts of terror. Members of Shakil's family disliked the verdict, punching a cameraman, however Shakil herself admitted that she
314:
According to Shakil, once in
Islamic State territory, she was "shocked" to see the Islamic State flag and soon decided that she had made a 'mistake' and wanted to return. She would later complain that there was "no police there for me to ring to help". At the time she decided to leave Raqqa was
383:
Shakil was released on license from prison in 2018. A convicted terrorist, Shakil must notify police of her personal details as part of her release conditions, including informing them of her home address for 15 years after her release. In 2021, Shakil claimed that she was now "ashamed" of her
185:. In one message she said that "this is my jihad" and in others urged people to come and fight for ISIS. Shakil claims that she never sent messages that advocated killing people and has "never agreed" with killing anybody, but when a relative attempted to persuade her that it was not a
201:
about ISIS before she left to Syria which were written by foreign women who had travelled there, and these made it clear that it was an expectation for all women to marry in the
Islamic State. After Shakil arrived in Syria she lived in the ISIS capital
238:", but now claims that she did "not know" at that time that the flag was related to the Islamic State. She changed her Facebook biography, encouraging people to "take to arms" if they were angered by events in Syria. Shakil had also followed people on
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profile and sent people messages that were supportive of the group, including images of ISIS fighters and religious passages that she believed justified the group's actions. She says that she put the IS flag on her profile to "support the
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of her son next to a gun was not taken by her. However, other images of Shakil with guns which she had tried to delete were recovered from her phone by police and used as evidence against her at her trial.
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supporting the
Islamic State and justifying their actions, telling people to "take to arms". She messaged friends on the day she arrived in Syria saying that it was her 'responsibility' as a
106:. She was sentenced to six years' imprisonment in 2016 for willingly joining the terrorist group and for encouraging terrorist acts online. She had chosen to take her toddler son to
850:
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had never said so, she replied that "it's part of our deen (duty) to kill the murtadeen". She would later tell police she had only joined because she wanted to become a "
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there, something she now admits was a lie. At trial Shakil claimed she had been 'forced' to pose with the machine guns and only went because she wanted to live under
311:. Shakil accepts that she was fully aware of this "horrific" violence before she chose to travel there, but still willingly decided to go with her one-year-old son.
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coming under military bombardment from opposing forces, which may have been the reason she decided to leave the 'caliphate'. She successfully escaped by bribing a
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of
Westerners they had kidnapped, which made international news and which there was front-page coverage of in the UK. Prominent examples such as the cases of
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262:" in Syria. Pocas himself is notorious for committing some of ISIS's most publicly shocking acts, with it believed that he had involvement in the
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driver to drive her to the
Turkish border where she surrendered to Turkish border guards. She was arrested as soon as she flew back to
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fighter Fabio Pocas online, enticed by his profile pictures with weapons and his accounts of attempting to establish an Islamic "
144:
described as her 'odd' claims that she had only put her child in an ISIS balaclava because the toddler "enjoyed wearing hats".
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commented, she told the jury that she had only put her child in an ISIS balaclava because the toddler "enjoyed wearing hats".
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be possible because of extreme limits on married women's movement in the streets of Raqqa, let alone for non-married women.
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said in a statement: "This is a deeply disturbing case which could have resulted in tragedy for the toddler involved."
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live in the Islamic State "shows obviously support for ISIS, and that way could be deemed and seen as membership".
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in a house for single women who were preparing to marry foreign fighters. She posted photos of her posing with the
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had decided of her own free will to go to Syria. The trial judge was critical of Shakil's stories, saying:
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in a cage. By the time Shakil became engaged in the topic of Syria, IS had carried out a number of public
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Shakil initially told police that it had "never been her intention to enter Syria" and that she had been
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for photographs. Both during and in the months before she travelled to join ISIS she posted content on
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who is notable for being the first, and only, British woman convicted of having travelled to
581:"Shamima Begum should not be allowed to return, suggests former Jihadi bride Tareena Shakil"
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In the lead-up to going to Syria, she had been in contact with ISIS extremists including
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877:"Exclusive: Father of convicted ISIS member Tareena Shakil speaks out after verdict"
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with her, and was later discovered to have made the one-year-old child pose with an
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903:"From ISIS to It Girl: British woman who joined ISIS becomes fashion influencer"
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624:"Tareena Shakil: 'I don't want sympathy … it was my decision to go to Syria'"
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led to widespread outrage, as well as the beheadings of British aid workers
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marches in the UK in the summer of 2014, and engaged with "attractive" ISIS
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flag, made her child wear an ISIS-branded balaclava and posed him with an
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and him also being credited by IS for making the execution video for the
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851:"UK woman found guilty of taking toddler to join Islamic State in Syria"
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In April 2023 it was reported that Shakil wanted to become an
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766:"Tareena Shakil: Birmingham mother 'ashamed' of joining IS"
507:"Tareena Shakil: Birmingham mother 'ashamed' of joining IS"
825:"British woman who joined Isis is jailed for six years"
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Shakil suggested in the 2021 documentary on her that
550:"Tareena Shakil jailed for six years for joining IS"
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Female Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant members
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481:"Tareena Shakil Jailed For Joining Islamic State"
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792:"British Mum Denies IS Tweets Were Terrorism"
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733:"British Woman Is Convicted of Joining ISIS"
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181:) and that she wanted to die a
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704:"Tareena: Return from ISIS".
189:'s duty to kill and that the
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46:umm_amaanah, princess_meena
32:1989 (age 34–35)
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965:2021 in the United Kingdom
960:2016 in the United Kingdom
955:2014 in the United Kingdom
393:Tareena: Return from ISIS
177:to kill the 'murtadeen' (
154:Tareena: Return from ISIS
94:(born 1989) is a British
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935:English female criminals
710:. Season 5. Episode 4.
367:Children's charity the
114:and wear Islamic State
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250:after a series of pro-
70:, encouraging acts of
166:East Midlands Airport
148:subject of the 2021
126:to kill 'murtadeen'
772:. 26 December 2021
587:. 15 November 2021
513:. 16 December 2021
456:. 16 December 2021
66:Being a member of
975:English Islamists
883:. 30 January 2016
857:. 30 January 2016
831:. 1 February 2016
798:. 25 January 2016
739:. 29 January 2016
630:. 29 January 2016
556:. 1 February 2016
487:. 1 February 2016
285:Muath al-Kasasbeh
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271:John Cantlie
229:flag on her
223:Aqsa Mahmood
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195:Jihadi bride
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152:documentary
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141:The Guardian
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120:social media
102:to join the
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980:1989 births
387:In 2021 an
340:. "Oddly",
297:James Foley
266:of British
252:Palestinian
929:Categories
433:References
410:influencer
338:sharia law
289:beheadings
264:kidnapping
256:Portuguese
116:balaclavas
36:Birmingham
407:Instagram
334:kidnapped
295:citizens
279:Jordanian
260:caliphate
236:caliphate
179:apostates
128:apostates
96:terrorist
72:terrorism
881:ITV News
796:Sky News
770:BBC News
707:Exposure
554:BBC News
511:BBC News
485:Sky News
454:BBC News
416:See also
231:Facebook
379:Release
277:of the
240:Twitter
191:Prophet
78:Penalty
187:Muslim
183:martyr
175:Muslim
170:Turkey
160:Crimes
132:martyr
124:Muslim
913:4 May
887:5 May
861:4 May
835:5 May
802:5 May
776:4 May
743:4 May
634:5 May
591:4 May
560:4 May
517:4 May
491:5 May
460:4 May
369:NSPCC
328:Trial
282:pilot
248:Syria
212:AK-47
204:Raqqa
199:blogs
136:Jihad
112:AK-47
108:Syria
100:Syria
915:2023
889:2023
863:2023
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804:2023
778:2023
745:2023
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317:taxi
307:and
299:and
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227:ISIS
221:and
68:ISIS
29:Born
712:ITV
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