CCTV shows British schoolgirls in Istanbul ‘bound for Syria’
Security footage has emerged appearing to show three British schoolgirls, believed to be on their way to join Islamic State militants in Syria, waiting for hours at a bus station in Turkey.
Above: Security footage captured at a Turkish bus station appears to show three missing British school girls thought to be on their way to Syria (no sound)
Amira Abase and Shamima Begum, both 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16, are thought to have entered Syria since these images were captured on February 17 and 18.
They were taken at Bayrampasa bus station on the European side of Istanbul, which the girls reportedly reached by metro from the airport.
Turkish media say the trio spent 18 hours at Bayrampasa before boarding a bus to travel to Sanlifurfa, 30 miles from the Syrian border region controlled by Islamic State militants.
Turkish police are trying to identify people seen in the footage helping the girls with their luggage at the bus station.
Diplomatic tension
It is the latest development amid growing diplomatic tension between Britain and Turkey, which has complained that the UK security service was late in notifying it about the girls’ disappearance.