Missing Bristol Schoolgirl Yusra Hussien May Have Become 'Jihadi Bride'

The family of schoolgirl Yusra Hussien, who is feared to have fled the country to become a "jihadi bride" in Syria, has pleaded: "Please come back, we miss you very much".

The 15-year-old Somali was reported missing last Wednesday after her father went to collect her from her school The City Academy, in the Easton area of Bristol, but she was nowhere to be seen.

Police have since confirmed she met a 17-year-old girl from Lambeth, who also disappeared on the same day, and has flown to Turkey with her.

"There are indications she may have been radicalised, but at the moment, our priority is to find her before she crosses the border to Syria," said Avon and Somerset Police assistant chief constable Louisa Rolfe.

"We must all be vigilant and ready to stop the signs of radicalisation. Often, young people who go to Syria can be naïve and don't recognise that they are being sucked into joining extremist groups.

"This is not about criminalising these young people, it's about preventing tragedies."

Yusra's family have issued a statement through their local councillor, Hibaq Jama: "Please come back, we miss you very much," it read.

"You're not in any trouble, we just want you to be safe. Come home as soon as possible."

Jama added: "It is really important to understand that at the heart of it is a grieving mother and a grieving father who, as yet, have no idea where their 15-year-old daughter is.

"What we know about her is that she is an incredibly bright, incredibly articulate, popular, gifted young lady who was admired by, and very much looked up to, by her peers.

"She was doing very well in school, she is in year 11 and has started that final year of her education.

"She was very aspirational, wanting to go on and become a dentist, so it has come as a complete shock to the parents."

Haras Rafiq, outreach officer for the counter-terrorism think tank The Quilliam Foundation, warned Yusra may have become a jihadi bride.

He told Good Morning Britain she could have a "romantic notion".

"She already probably believes that she's going to go and get married so one of two things will happen," he said.

"Either she will have a role to play in the so-called Islamic State. In this case she's not a professional - she's not a doctor, she's not an engineer etc.

"It's more than likely that she will actually go and become a jihadi bride. She at the age of 15 will marry somebody who she considers to be a holy warrior and that's how she will play a part in the jihad."

Counter terrorism experts claim around 50 girls aged between 16 to 24 have gone to Syria or Iraq to fight alongside Islamic State militants.