ISIS in the UK: Syria-bound missing mother-of-four Zahera Tariq detained in Turkey

Zehera Tariq, who went missing from London last week and believed to be travelling to Syria to join the Islamic State with her four children, has been detained by authorities in Turkey.

Tariq, 33, and her sons Muhammad, 12, Amaar, 11, Aadid, four, and daughter Safiyyah, nine, were last seen at their home in Walthamstow, east London on 25 August. They were pictured on CCTV as they flew to Amsterdam from London City airport and then travelled to Turkey.

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement that Tariq was traced by counter terror police after an appeal for information from the public. It said officers received confirmation from the Turkish authorities that the woman had been detained in Turkey, along with her four children, who are all said to be safe and well. Officers are liaising with the Turkish authorities and enquiries continue.

Commander Richard Walton, from the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, said: "I'd like to thank the public and media for their help and support with our appeal to locate this mother and her four young children over the weekend.

"We had very real concerns that she may have been planning to travel with her children to Syria and she has now been detained with the children in Turkey.

"I would also like to thank our police counterparts in the Netherlands and Turkey, with whom we continue to have excellent working relationships."

Tariq and her family were the latest in a string of dissapearances by British nationals attempting to join IS in Syria by travelling over the Turkish border. In June three sisters from Bradford set off to join the militant group, joining a relative who had already travelled to Syria. The trio and their young children are now believed to be in the Islamic State's Syrian capital of Raqqa.

Similarly, three London teenagers Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and Amira Abase, 15, who fled their homes in Bethnal Green to join IS in February, are also believed to be in Raqqa. Two of the three are known to have married Islamic State fighters.