UK teen Shamima Begum was strict enforcer under Daesh ‘morality police’

Shamima Begum, a British-born teenager who fled home to join Daesh. (File photo: AFP)
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Updated 31 July 2020
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UK teen Shamima Begum was strict enforcer under Daesh ‘morality police’

  • The Telegraph cited sources alleging that the UK teenager was a ‘member of the feared morality police’
  • She was briefed on the preparations of suicide vests used by the group’s self-bombers, the report claims

LONDON: Recent news has emerged regarding Shamima Begum’s life under Daesh, claiming that the UK teenager served under the terror group’s “morality police” and also tried to recruit other young women.

The Sunday Telegraph has cited “well-informed” sources alleging that the London-raised teenager was a “member of the feared ISIS morality police”, referring to another acronym for Daesh.

The report claims that the 19-year-old “played an active role” in the organization’s reign of terror.

The newspaper says Begum was allowed to carry a Kalashnikov rifle, and allegedly earned herself the reputation of a strict “enforcer” of laws, on issues such as dress codes for women. 

In this role, Begum is said to have received between “£500 ($658) and £1,500 a month”.

She also allegedly worked on recruiting more women to join Daesh, including texting a teen from Austria in 2015.

Begum attempted to lure the girl into joining the group by allegedly telling her: “Don’t believe any of the bad things you hear about Dawla [the Daesh state], it’s fake. You have everything you want here and we can help find you a good-looking husband.”

The cited allegations also say that the British teen had been briefed on the preparations of suicide vests used by the group’s self-bombers. 

The information, said to have been gleaned by CIA and other western intelligence services, contradicts with what Begum had previously stated about her life under Daesh.

In a previous interview, she claimed that during her four years under the militant group she was never involved in any brutality, adding that during her time in Syria she was a devoted housewife to a Daesh fighter. 

Begum has had her British citizenship revoked and has since been stuck in a displacement camp for months after being detained when leaving Daesh territory.


Guinea confirms detention of 16 Sierra Leonean soldiers

Updated 58 min 47 sec ago
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Guinea confirms detention of 16 Sierra Leonean soldiers

  • Guinea said late Tuesday the soldiers entered the Koudaya district in the Faranah region without authorization
  • Guinea said its forces seized their equipment and supplies

CONAKRY: Guinea’s military confirmed the detention of 16 Sierra Leonean soldiers after accusing them of crossing the border and raising their flag on Guinean soil.
The two West African countries have been involved in a border dispute for more than two decades, stemming from the Sierra Leonean Civil War between 1991 and 2002. Sierra Leone’s government had invited Guinea to help defend its eastern borders during the war, but the Guinean troops didn’t completely withdraw after the war.
The GuineanMinistry of National Defense said in a statement, issued late Tuesday, the soldiers entered the district of Koudaya in Faranah, a border region in Guinea, without authorization, where they“set up a tent and raised their national flag”. Guinean authorities also seized their equipment and supplies.
The Sierra Leonean authorities earlier Tuesday said several members of a security unit, including an officer, had been apprehended while making bricks fora border post in Kalieyereh in the district of Falaba on Monday.
Last year, the Guinean military entered a mineral-rich border town in Sierra Leone, reigniting the tension.