LONDON — A schoolgirl who fled her home in the British capital to join the Islamic State terror group is believed to have been killed in an airstrike in Syria, according to a media report.
Kadiza Sultana, 17, left her home in Bethnal Green, east London, and headed to Turkey with her friends Shamima Begum and Amira Abase, then both 15, in February last year. Police said they believe the girls later crossed into neighboring Syria.
ITV News reported Thursday that Sultana is thought to have been killed in May when a Russian warplane dropped a bomb on her accommodation in Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS.
Sultana had been in contact with her family and was planning to return to Britain after becoming disillusioned with life with the terror group, the broadcaster reported.
"We were expecting this in a way. But at least we know she is in a better place,” Sultana’s sister Halima told ITV.
"We do not wish her name to come up in the headlines again... She is gone and we would like to respect her wishes,” she added.
John Biggs, the mayor of Sultana's neighborhood in east London, tweeted Friday: "Deeply saddened to hear of the death of Kadiza Sultana in Syria. This is devastating news for a family who have already suffered so much."
Begum and Abase are thought to remain in Raqqa, ITV reported.
Governments across Europe are attempting to stop the flow of disaffected citizens to join terror groups in countries including Syria and Iraq.
The British government has said that 850 people "of national security concern" have traveled to fight in the Syrian conflict. Just under half have returned to the U.K., and more than 10% have been killed, it said.
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