UK teens arrested 'heading for Syria' released on bail

DHA Photo

Three British teenagers suspected of trying to travel to Syria were released on bail late March 15 after being questioned for 24 hours on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism, police said.
      
Two 17-year-old boys from northwest London and a man aged 19 were detained by authorities in Turkey on Friday and were deported to Britain on Saturday, where they were promptly arrested by counter-terrorism officers.
      
"They have been bailed to return to a central London police station pending further enquiries," a spokesman for London's Metropolitan Police announced late Sunday.
      
The dramatic events come just weeks after three schoolgirls left London to join Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants in Syria, the latest of an estimated 600 Britons believed to have made the journey since the Syrian conflict began.
     
The Times newspaper reported that the parents of the two younger boys had alerted police to their disappearance after they failed to return home after Friday prayers.
     
A Turkish official confirmed that the two boys were detained by security services based on information from Britain.
      
By contrast the 19-year-old, identified as MAA, was detected by Turkish airport police checking passengers arriving in Istanbul on a flight from Barcelona, the official said.
      
Both British and Turkish officials said they were believed to be heading for Syria.
                      
The success of the British and Turkish authorities in getting the teenagers home this weekend contrasts with the failure to stop three girls reaching Syria earlier this year.
      
London schoolfriends Kadiza Sultana, 16, and 15-year-olds Shamima Begum and Amira Abase followed...

Continue reading on: