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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Bradford families 'crossed into Syria' | Bradford families 'crossed into Syria' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Three Bradford sisters and nine children missing from the UK have crossed into Syria, an Islamic State smuggler has told the BBC. | |
| The family were split into two groups to cross the border from Turkey, the smuggler in charge of some of IS's border operations said. | |
| He said the first group went early on Wednesday and the second on Thursday. | He said the first group went early on Wednesday and the second on Thursday. |
| Sisters Khadija, Sugra and Zohra Dawood and their nine children disappeared after travelling to Saudi Arabia. | Sisters Khadija, Sugra and Zohra Dawood and their nine children disappeared after travelling to Saudi Arabia. |
| On Tuesday, two of the husbands of the women - Akhtar Iqbal and Mohammed Shoaib - made an emotional appeal pleading for them to return, saying they "could not live" without their families. | |
| BBC correspondent Paul Wood, who is on the Turkish-Syrian border, said he had spoken to the smuggler who confirmed the crossing. | BBC correspondent Paul Wood, who is on the Turkish-Syrian border, said he had spoken to the smuggler who confirmed the crossing. |
| "If what he says is true, it clears up the main ambiguity of this story - whether the sisters were really heading for the so-called Islamic State, or some other part of Syria, controlled by some other armed group," said our correspondent. | |
| He said the information came up during a casual conversation with the smuggler, who is known to be an IS member, but when asked for an interview about the incident he asked for money which the BBC refused. | |
| The information also fits with the news that one of the sisters, Zohra, sent a message to her family that she was inside Syria - but she did not say exactly where. | |
| The North East Counter Terrorism Unit said it was "continuing to make extensive enquiries" in order to try and bring the women and children home. | |
| The group went missing following a religious pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. | |
| They travelled to the Saudi city of Medina on 28 May and were last seen in a hotel in the city. | |
| The family was supposed to fly to Manchester following their pilgrimage but their husbands reported them missing when they did not return. They had last spoken to their children on 8 June. | |
| The women's brother is understood to be fighting with extremists in Syria and it is believed the group missed a previous flight to Saudi Arabia in March after being questioned by security officials. | |
| 'Quietly condoning IS' | |
| The case has led to much debate within the UK's Muslim community. | |
| Dr Mohammed Iqbal, president of Bradford's Ahmadiyya Muslim Association, insisted that propaganda was reaching Muslims over the internet, not through mosques. | |
| But Manzoor Moghal, chairman of the Muslim Forum accused families of those travelling to Syria and Iraq of "endlessly pointing the finger at others" and said communities should take responsibility. | |
| It comes as Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to warn of the dangers posed by those who "quietly condone" Islamic State militants' extremist ideology. | |
| Speaking at a security conference in the Slovakian capital Bratislava later, he will also stress the importance of tackling radicalisation at its source. |