Brides of the Islamic State

Beginning in 2012, dozens of girls and women traveled to Iraq and Syria to join the Islamic State (IS), becoming brides of Islamic State fighters. While some traveled willingly, others were brought to Iraq and Syria as minors by their parents or family or forcefully.

Many of those women subsequently acquired high public profiles, either through their efforts to recruit more volunteers, when they died or because they recanted and wished to return to their home countries. Commentators have noted that it will be hard to differentiate between the women who played an active role in atrocities and those who were stay-at-home housewives.

Women who travelled to become an IS bride

Women who travelled to Iraq or Syria to become an IS bride
Name Birth
year
Date of joining Status Home
country
Notes
Zagidat Abakarova 1985 2014 Repatriated to Russia in 2017, given a suspended sentence  Russia
  • Brought to Syria by her husband, bringing her two children with her
  • Russian officials believe she was held in Syria by her husband involuntarily
  • Had another child in Syria
  • Returned to Dagestan in 2017, allowed to serve a suspended sentence to take care of her children
Amira Abase 2001 2015 Missing, last confirmed alive in Baghuz in 2019  United Kingdom
  • Part of the Bethnal Green trio, a group of schoolgirls who joined IS
  • Married an Australian fighter who later died
  • In February 2019, she was described as "missing". Believed to have either escaped to northeast Syria or killed in the Battle of Baghuz Fawqani.
  • Shamima Begum believes she is still alive, as heard from other IS brides
Rawdah Abdisalaam / UmmWaqqas 2014 Unknown  United States /  Finland
  • Online recruiter for IS
  • Left Seattle, Washington in 2014 and moved to Raqqa
  • Provided packing lists, travel plans and other tools to help other women join IS
  • Claimed to have helped to form the Al-Khansaa Brigade
Suhayra Aden 1995 2014 Repatriated to New Zealand in 2021  Australia/ New Zealand
  • Aden is a New Zealander and former dual Australian citizen who travelled to Syria in 2014 to join IS.
  • She was later found in Al-Hawl refugee camp, expressing a desire to return to Australia
  • Due to her ties to IS, she was stripped of her Australian citizenship in 2020, which created friction in Australia-New Zealand relations.
  • In February 2021, she was detained by Turkish authorities while trying to enter the country with her two children. The Turkish Government subsequently dropped charges against her and began proceedings to deport her.
  • In late Jul 2021, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that the New Zealand Government would repatriate Aden and her children on the basis of their New Zealand citizenship. She and her children arrived in New Zealand on mid–August 2021.
Zahra Ahmad Unknown whereabouts  Australia
  • Traveled to Syria with her extended family, and became Muhammad Zahab's second wife.
Zara Ahmed Unknown, held in Al-Hawl refugee camp  Australia
  • Ahmed said refugee women who remain radicalized are murdering other camp occupants they see as apostates.
Amandine Le Coz 1990 2014 Repatriated to France by Turkey in 2019  France
  • Grew up in a Paris suburb
  • Joined IS with her husband
  • Gave birth to a son in IS territory.
Farzana Ameen 1975 2015 Unknown  United Kingdom
  • Travelled to Turkey with her husband and her 5 children on a one-way ticket
  • Believed to have entered Syria
Shayma Assaad 2000 2015 Held in Al-Hawl refugee camp since 2019  Australia
  • Aged 15 when brought to Syria by her parents supposedly to search for her brothers
  • Married to another Australian IS fighter
  • Was pregnant when she made her way to the Al-Hawl refugee camp in 2019.
Aylam 2015 Believed to have been killed in "a bombing"  Australia
  • Captured after escaping Raqqa, then exchanged and sent back to IS
  • Husband faces death penalty in Baghdad
  • Cousin and travelling companion to Janai Safar.
Fauzia Khamal Bacha 2014 Dead (before 2019)  Singapore
  • Travelled from Melbourne, Australia to Syria, with her husband and four children, in 2014.
  • Bacha, her husband Yasin Rizvic, and their eldest son, were killed in Syria.
  • Their three surviving children, aged 6 to 12, and all Australian citizens, were repatriated on 24 June 2019.
Emilie Konig 1984 2012 Repatriated back to France in 2022  France
  • Was the subject of a 2012 documentary.
  • Claims joining IS "wrecked her life"
  • Wants to return to France
Zahera Tariq 1982 2015 Released from British prison in 2019  United Kingdom
  • Sister-in-law of an IS executioner known as "Jihadi Sid"
  • Disappeared in August with her three children, found in Turkey and arrested before she could enter Syria
  • Jailed for three years in 2016 for child abduction
Aqsa Mahmood 1994 2013 Missing, believed to have died before 2019  United Kingdom
Yusra Hussien 1999 2014 Missing since 2015  United Kingdom
  • Boarded a flight to Turkey with Samya Dirie
  • Married in 2015
  • Last contact in 2015 with her aunt, missing since
Samya Dirie 1997 2014 Unknown whereabouts  United Kingdom
  • Boarded a flight to Turkey with 15 year old Yusra Hussein
  • Missing since entering Syria
Nicole Jack 1987 2015 Held in Roj refugee camp since 2019  United Kingdom
  • Left Britain in 2015 with her husband, Hussein Ali, who threatened to split up the family if she did not come with him
  • Ali died in 2016, and Jack remarried
  • Second husband died in an airstrike, which also killed her 10-year-old son
  • Lives in Roj refugee camp with her three daughters, aged 12, 9 and 7
Hoda Muthana 1994 2014 Held in the Al Hawl Camp since 2019  United States
  • Born in America to Yemeni diplomats
  • Started making inflammatory tweets after her first husband was killed in action.
  • Burned her American passport upon arriving in Syria
  • Holds Yemeni citizenship after a federal judge ruled she does not have American citizenship
  • Escaped IS with her infant son, surrendered to American troops
Mehdia 1999 2016 Held in Al Hawl Camp since at least 2020  China
  • Uyghur woman, taken to Syria by her husband when she was 17
  • Attempted to escape from Al Hawl in 2020, but discovered and sent back
  • Has three children
Ariel Bradley 1985 2014 Died in an airstrike in 2018  United States
  • American convert who married a Swedish Muslim man she met online
  • Had a daughter with him in 2012, Aminah, who later returned to the US after being orphaned
  • Told her mother in 2014 that the family were going on a "mission trip"
  • Gave birth to a son in 2014, and made inflammatory tweets praising attacks against Americans
  • Killed with her husband and son in an airstrike in 2018
Daniela Greene 1980 2014 Returned to the United States in 2014  United States
  • Contract linguist with the Federal Bureau of Investigation
  • Assigned to communicate with Denis Cuspert, a German IS recruiter, as part of a covert investigation of his activities.
  • Fell in love with Cuspert and travelled to Syria to marry him.
  • Fled Syria after two months
  • Upon return to the United States, she was charged with lying to the FBI, later serving a two-year sentence.
Minera Khatun 1962 2015 Died of natural causes (before 2019)  United Kingdom
  • Travelled to Syria with her family of 12 and elderly husband
  • IS released a statement on behalf of the family claiming they'd "never felt safer"
  • Three sons killed while fighting for Islamic State
  • Remaining family members killed in an airstrike in Baghouz
Sheida Khanam 1988 2015 Died in an airstrike in Baghouz in 2019  United Kingdom
  • Travelled to Syria with her family of 12
  • IS released a statement on behalf of the family claiming they'd "never felt safer"
  • Killed along with the rest of her family members in an airstrike in Baghouz
Roshanara Begum 1991 2015 Died in an airstrike in Baghouz in 2019  United Kingdom
  • Travelled to Syria with her family of 12
  • IS released a statement on behalf of the family claiming they'd "never felt safer"
  • Killed along with the rest of her family members in an airstrike in Baghouz
Rajia Khanom 1994 2015 Died in an airstrike in Baghouz in 2019  United Kingdom
  • Travelled to Syria with her family of 12
  • IS released a statement on behalf of the family claiming they'd "never felt safer"
  • Killed along with the rest of her family members in an airstrike in Baghouz
Deqo Osman 1997 2015 Unknown  United Kingdom
  • Travelled to Turkey with three friends and her husband
  • Crossed into Syria with her husband and two of her travelling partners
  • Believed to still be in Syria
Zohura Siddeka 1987 2014 Unknown  United Kingdom
  • Gave birth twice, first child died
  • Part of a large group from Walsall who were recruited by IS

Grace 'Khadijah' Dare

1990 2012 Unknown, last confirmed alive in 2016  United Kingdom
  • Brought up a Christian, converted to Islam
  • Travelled to Syria with her 4-year-old son, Isa, who appeared in an IS propaganda video
  • Married a Swedish fighter named Abu Bakr, who is believed to have been killed. Had two children with him
  • Lived in Manbij, near Aleppo
Salma Halane 1998 2014 Unknown whereabouts, but believed to still be alive  United Kingdom
  • Born to Somali refugees in Denmark, then moved to Manchester, UK
  • Twin sister of Zahra Halane, active in recruiting more volunteers after her arrival in IS territory.
  • Married an unknown fighter before being widowed
  • Son reportedly killed in fighting at Baghouz
Zahra Halane 1998 2014 Held in the Roj refugee camp since 2020  United Kingdom
  • Born to Somali refugees in Denmark, then moved to Manchester, UK
  • Twin sister of Salma Halane, active in recruiting more volunteers after her arrival in IS territory.
  • Married an unknown fighter before being widowed
  • Has a 5-6-year-old son
  • Attempted to escape Al Hol camp in 2020
Tara Nettleton 1983 2013 Died in 2015 from appendix surgery complications  Australia
  • Was able to travel to IS territory with her husband, Khaled Sharrouf, even though his passport had been cancelled due to an earlier conviction for terrorism.
  • The couple brought their five children with them.
  • Sharrouf and two of their five children died from the same drone attack in 2017.
Zaynab Sharrouf 2001 2013 Repatriated to Australia in 2019  Australia
  • Brought to IS territory by her parents Tara Nettleton and Khaled Sharrouf at the age of thirteen, at which age she was married to Mohammed Elomar, a jihadi fighter and her father's best friend. On 24 June 2019, it was reported she had been repatriated to Australia, also rescued with her two children, age 2 and 3.
  • Later gave birth in 2019 to a child fathered by her second husband, his fate is unknown
Zehra Duman 1993 2014 Held in al-Hawl camp since 2019  Australia
  • Left Australia to marry Mahmoud Abdullatif, a Melbourne-born IS fighter
  • Served as a recruiter following her arrival in IS territory.
  • Australian citizenship revoked in 2019, believed to hold Turkish citizenship
  • Has two children, born in Syria in 2016 and 2018
  • Now lives in Turkey as a free woman
Shams / Umm al Baraa / Bird of Jannah 1988 2014 Unknown, last social media update in 2015  Malaysia
  • Shams was a medical doctor.
  • Married an IS fighter called Abu al-Baraa in 2014
  • Gave birth in 2015
  • Published poetry, ran Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr accounts
Gailon Su / Gailon Lawson 1972 2014 Held in Al Hol since 2015  Trinidad and Tobago
  • Former Miss Longdenville, converted to Islam in 2014
  • Captured in 2015, held in Al Hol since
  • Married four men while in Syria, divorcing twice
  • Son captured while fighting, he is being held in detention in Syria
Kimberly Gwen Polman 1972 2015 Held in the Al Hawl Camp since 2019  Canada/ United States
  • Studied legal administration in Canada before leaving for IS
  • Was told by the man she went on to marry, Abu Aymen, that her nursing skills were needed in the caliphate.
  • Burned American passport upon entering Syria
  • Describes first trying to defect after being in IS for a year, only to be captured, imprisoned, tortured, and raped.
  • Attempted to escape in 2016, but was captured and imprisoned in Raqqa
Shadi Jabar Khalil Mohammad 1994/5 2015 Died from an air strike in Al-Bab in 2016  Australia
  • Sister of Farhad Jabar, the perpetrator of the 2015 Parramatta shooting
  • Believed to have worked as an recruiter alongside her husband
  • Groomed Safaa Boular, who attempted to travel to Syria with her mother and sister, before planning an attack on the British Museum
Reema Iqbal 1990 2013 Held in Roj camp  United Kingdom
  • Married an IS fighter, Celso Da Costa
  • "The security services came to speak to me and I was honest, I told them my whole story so now it's up to them to judge."
  • Believed to have Pakistani citizenship
  • Stripped of UK citizenship in early March, 2019.
Zara Iqbal 1992 2013 Held in an unknown refugee camp  United Kingdom
  • Husband killed on an unspecified date
  • Stripped of UK citizenship in early March, 2019.
  • Children believed to have British citizenship
Natalie Bracht 2013 Returned to Germany, before being repatriated to the United Kingdom in 2020  United Kingdom
  • Holds joint British and German citizenship
  • Reported to have been an associate of Zara Iqbal, Reema Iqbal, and Ruzina Khanam.
  • Reportedly has nine children
  • Claims to have never been to Syria
  • Currently lives in a squat near Heathrow, UK. Arrested in 2020 for taking part in an Extinction Rebellion protest
Ruzina Khanam 1992 2013 Missing, last confirmed alive in Raqqa in 2019  United Kingdom
  • Joined IS to marry Fabio Pocas, who produced and released execution videos
  • Took her one-year-old daughter, Noor
  • Reported to have been an associate of Zara Iqbal, Reema Iqbal, Natalie Bracht, and Maylbongwe Sibanda.
Maylbongwe Sibanda 2013 Unknown  United Kingdom
  • Daughter of a Christian nurse
  • Reported to have been an associate of Zara Iqbal, Reema Iqbal, Ruzina Khanam, and Natalie Bracht.
Khadija Bibi Dawood 1985 2015 Unknown  United Kingdom
  • Travelled with her two sisters to Syria to join their fighter brother
  • Left husband behind in Bradford, UK
  • Took her two children, aged 5 and 7, with her to Syria
Sugra Dawood 1981 2015 Unknown  United Kingdom
  • Travelled with her two sisters to Syria to join their fighter brother
  • Left husband behind in Bradford, UK
  • Took her five children, aged between 15 and 3, with her to Syria
Zohra Dawood 1982 2015 Unknown  United Kingdom
  • Travelled with her two sisters to Syria to join their fighter brother
  • Left husband behind in Bradford, UK
  • Took her two children, aged 5 and 8, with her to Syria
  • Contacted her family to inform them she was in Syria
GreenBirdofDabiq 2015 Unknown  United Kingdom (possibly)
  • Lived in Raqqa since at least 2015
  • Active on Twitter as a propagandist, complaining about poor conditions
  • Married and moved to Al-Thawrah
Jamila Henry 1993 2015 Unknown, but living in the United Kingdom  United Kingdom
  • Admitted to living for six months in Raqqa with her two-year-old son
  • Returned to London, but travelled back to Syria four months later as she "missed her friends"
  • Stole her twin sister's passport in an attempt to travel back to Syria again, but was arrested
  • Spared jail in 2015
Leonora Messing 2000 2015 Repatriated to Germany in December 2020  Germany
  • Reported to have wed a jihadi at just 15 years old.
  • Asked her father to be smuggled out after six months, imprisoned twice by IS for attempting to escape
  • Has two children by her German IS fighter husband
  • Released from pre-trial detention in 2021
Jennifer Wenisch 1991 Before 2015 Sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in Germany  Germany
  • Arrested in Turkey in 2016, placed on trial for genocide after allowing a Yazidi slave to die of thirst
  • Lived in Raqqa and Iraq with her husband, Taha al-Jumailly
  • Reportedly a member of the Al-Khansaa Brigade
"Hass Coast" 2014 Unknown  France
  • Propagandist active on Twitter
  • Suspected to have been from France, encouraged others to travel to Syria
  • Married an IS fighter and lived in IS-held territory, encouraged attacks on France
  • Account active between October 2014 to August 2015 before being suspended
Djamila Boutoutaou 1990 2014 Sentenced to life imprisonment in Iraq  France
  • Travelled to Iraq with her husband Mohammed Nassereddine and their two children in 2014
  • Husband killed in 2016, son died in 2017
  • Captured and sent to Baghdad with her daughter
  • Placed on trial by Iraqi authorities and sentenced to life imprisonment
Hayat Boumeddiene 1988 2015 Missing since 2015, possibly being held in Al-Hawl refugee camp  France
  • Widow of Amedy Coulibaly
  • Fled to Syria a week before her husband's death, travelling through Spain and Turkey
  • May have been killed in Syria, early in 2019.
  • Convicted in absentia of financing terrorism and sentenced to 30 years imprisonment
  • Thought to have possibly escaped Al-Hawl
Shamima Begum 1999 2015 Held in Al-Hawl refugee camp since 2019  United Kingdom
  • Part of the Bethnal Green trio, a group of schoolgirls who joined IS
  • Had British citizenship revoked in 2019, barred from re-entering the UK as a "national security risk"
  • Had three children, all deceased
  • Married a Dutch IS fighter upon entering Syria
Kadiza Sultana 2000 2015 Died in an airstrike in Raqqa in 2016  United Kingdom
  • Part of the Bethnal Green trio, a group of schoolgirls who joined IS
  • Believed to have married an American IS fighter before her death
  • Became disillusioned while living in Raqqa and was attempting to leave, but gave up on her attempts following the death of Samra Kesinovc.
  • Rumours of her survival exist, but Shamima Begum believes she is dead
Nassima Begum 1990 2012 Held in Al-Hawl refugee camp  United Kingdom
  • Said she had no choice when her husband insisted they move to an Islamic country.
  • Brought her four children with her
Sharmeena Begum 1999 2014 Missing, last confirmed alive in Baghuz in 2019  United Kingdom
  • Followed by the Bethnal Green trio two months after
  • Married a Bosnian fighter
  • Last confirmed alive two weeks after entering Syria
  • In February 2019 she was described as "missing".
Sally Jones 1968 2013 Killed by a drone strike in 2017  United Kingdom
  • Took one of her two sons (Jojo) to Syria and commonly used him as a human shield
  • Married to Junaid Hussain, a computer hacker working for IS
  • Given the nickname "White Widow" following her husband's death in 2015
  • Regularly posted U.S. servicemen's personal details on Twitter
  • "Reportedly placed on a special-forces 'kill list' after threatening Queen Elizabeth II".
  • Placed in charge of the Anwar al-Awlaki Brigade following her husband's death
  • Believed to have been killed while attempting to escape Raqqa, but rumours of her survival have spread amongst IS brides
Fatiha Mejjati 1961 2014 Believed to be hiding in Idlib as of 2020  Morocco
  • Formerly trained by Al-Qaeda
  • Commanded "the Islamic State's Al-Khansaa Brigade, an all-female detachment that polices the group's strictures against wearing makeup or showing bare skin."
  • Escaped Al-Hawl refugee camp in 2020
Zalina Gabibulayeva 1981 2014 Repatriated to Russia in 2017, given a suspended sentence  Russia
  • Entered Syria as a single woman in 2014
  • First husband fought in the Chechen Insurgency, the family lived in Grozny before Gabibulayeva was widowed in 2010
  • Settled in Tabqa, Syria – married quickly
  • Third husband killed in a drone strike after a year, smuggled out of Syria with her fourth husband in 2017
  • Gave birth to her fifth child in Al-Hawl in 2017, spent four months in the camp after her husband deported to Macedonia and imprisoned
  • Repatriated to Dagestan, but has returned to Chechnya
  • Now teaches the dangers of extremism in Chechen schools
Linda Wenzel 2001 2016 Serving a 6-year prison sentence in Iraq  Germany
  • Nicknamed the "Belle of Mosul"
  • Joined IS at the age of 15, married to a Chechen fighter who was later killed
  • Reportedly served as a sniper
  • Believed to have been part of the Al-Khansaa Brigade
  • Captured in Mosul in 2017
"Sanna" 1972 2014 Repatriated to Finland in 2020  Finland
  • Finnish media calls her "ISIS wife Sanna" (Finnish: Isis-vaimo Sanna) but her real name is unknown
  • Converted to Islam in 2005
  • Divorced her husband so he was able to take a second wife while living in Finland
  • Emigrated from Kotka, Finland to Manbij to join her husband and his second wife
  • Travelled with her four children, the eldest, a daughter born in 2005–2006, was married in Syria aged 13. The youngest was born in Syria.
  • Claimed her first husband died in a car accident, remarried after his death, second wife was returned to Finland after being arrested attempting to travel to Georgia
  • During the fall of IS in 2019, Sanna was interviewed by CNN near the final stronghold of Baghouz. As of 6 March 2019, she was in a refugee camp and wanted to return to Finland.
  • After the interview was published on 6 March 2019, Sanna's story was widely covered by Finnish media, starting a public discussion in Finland on possible return of Finnish citizens who emigrated to the IS war zone in Iraq and Syria.
  • With the help of Finnish authorities, she later was returned from the al-Hawl refugee camp to Finland with four children with her. Also a Finnish-Somali woman returned to Finland with two of her children on the same flight.
Sabina Selimovic 1999 2014 Killed in unclear circumstances in 2014  Austria
  • Reported to be pregnant, married and living in Raqqa in 2014
  • Reported to have died in 2014
  • Two children sent to live with Selimovic's mother following her death
Samra Kesinovic 1997 2014 Killed after attempting to escape in 2015  Austria
  • Used as a sex slave upon entering Syria
  • Reported to be pregnant, married and living in Raqqa in 2014
  • Reported to have been beaten to death attempting to escape in 2015
Kirsty Rosse-Emile 1995 2014 Held in Al-Hawl refugee camp since 2019  Australia
  • Brought to Syria by her "much older husband"
  • Claims to have known very little, and stayed in her home
  • Present at Baghouz
  • Was pregnant when she made her way to the Al-Hawl refugee camp in 2019. Later gave birth, and now has two children.
  • Made provocative social media posts.
Janai Safar 1996 2015 Held in Al-Hawl refugee camp since 2017  Australia
  • Unlike many other Brides, Safar does not want to be repatriated.
  • Vowed "never to return" to Australia, as she did not want her son to grow up in a non-Islamic country
  • Has denied that her husband was a senior IS official.[citation needed]
  • Her family disputes she professed continued support for IS.
Lisa Smith 1981 2015 Returned to Ireland in 2019  Ireland
  • Formerly a soldier in the Irish army.
  • Married four times
  • Irish security officials believe she was not an active member of IS and was no more than a sympathizer.
  • Returned to Ireland and arrested for being a member of IS, went on trial in 2022.
  • Subsequently, found guilty of being a member of IS in May 2022.
Dullel Kassab 1985 2014 Killed in an airstrike in Syria before 2020  Australia
  • Her father says she only travelled to IS-occupied Syria to find out what happened to her late husband. Her family claims that once she arrived in IS territory, she was forced into marriage with a jihadi fighter.
  • Once married to a jihadi fighter, she made social media posts that seemed to support the IS regime.
  • She has criticied IS's inability to provide health care, including pre-natal and obstetrics care.
  • Reportedly killed in an airstrike with her children at some point before 2020
Nûh Suwaidi 1995 Currently on trial in Iraq  Germany
  • Moved to IS territory with her husband, and bore three children there.
  • Claims her husband made all their decisions, and did not know where they were living.
  • Attempted to leave after her husband was killed, but could not access money or documentation
  • Currently on trial, and may face the death penalty
Nora Camali 2015 Held in an unknown Iraqi prison  United Kingdom
  • Went to Syria with friends to "hunt a husband"
  • Fell pregnant, husband died shortly after
  • Sentenced to life in prison, daughter sent to live with British relatives
Mariam Dabboussy 1992 2015 Held in Al-Roj camp since 2019  Australia
  • Dabboussy says her husband tricked her into traveling to the Turkish-Syrian border with a claim they were going to help one of his relatives escape Syria, only to force her to cross the border, at gunpoint.
  • Had three children, forced to remarry twice after her first husband's death
  • Attempted to escape twice, present at the Battle of Baghuz Fawqani
Nesrine Zahab 1994 2014 Held in Al-Hawl refugee camp since 2017  Australia
  • Claims she was tricked into IS territory by her cousin when she thought she was merely delivering emergency food supplies to the border.
  • Sent to a single woman's house and forced to marry
  • Attempted to escape, but was caught and her husband placed on Iraqi death row
Hafsa Sliti 1988 2015 Held in Al-Roj refugee camp since 2018  Belgium
  • Hafsa's father, Amor Sliti, took her mother, Hafsa, and her four younger siblings to Afghanistan, in 2000. Her mother, Christine Volcke, fled, leaving Hafsa and her siblings with her father. Her father agreed to marry her to a member of the Taliban, when she was just 13 years old, and they had a child. After the American invasion of Afghanistan, in the fall of 2001, her husband ended up in the Guantanamo detention camp, and Hafsa, her father and her siblings ended up in an Iranian refugee camp. They were deported back to Belgium in February 2002. Hafsa and her siblings were put in the care of Volcke, her mother, while her father was tried and convicted of terrorism charges.
  • Her father was stripped of Belgian citizenship, and deported to Tunisia in 2010. He traveled to the newly established IS, where he worked in the tax department. Hafsa joined him, in 2015. She married a jihadi fighter, and bore another child. She says that by 2017 she and her father had grown disillusioned with the brutality and corruption of the IS regime. She says they made three escape attempts, and that her father was shot and killed on the third attempt.
  • Hafsa says she is not a threat, and would prefer to be repatriated to Belgium, with her children, even if it meant serving a prison sentence. She was given a five-year sentence in Belgium, despite still being in Syria.
Samantha Marie Elhassani 1985 2014 Repatriated to the United States in 2018, currently in prison  United States
  • Known as Samantha Sally
  • Claims she was forced to go to Syria by her husband to protect her daughter and son
  • Jailed within IS for three months for attempting to escape
  • Later went on to have two more children with her IS fighter husband
  • One of 27 Americans repatriated to face charges in the USA. In 2020, she was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison.
Ayan Juma / Rahma Sadiq Juma 1994 2013 Unknown, last contact in December 2013  Norway
  • Daughter of Somalian refugees, older sister to Leila Juma / Ugbad Juma
  • Radicalised online by joining extremist chat rooms and by watching al-Qaeda videos
  • Was found by her father in Syria, but not allowed to leave
  • Father continued to search for them at least until 2017
Leila Juma / Ugbad Sadiq Juma 1994 2013 Unknown, last contact in December 2013  Norway
  • Daughter of Somalian refugees, younger sister to Ayan Juma / Rahma Juma Sadiq
  • Radicalised online by joining extremist chat rooms and by watching al-Qaeda videos
  • Posted videos on her YouTube channel calling for Humanitarian assistance in Syria
  • Was found by her father in Syria, but not allowed to leave
  • Father continued to search for them at least until 2017
Tareena Shakil 1989 2014 Released from prison in 2018  United Kingdom
  • Radicalised online by Sally-Anne Jones and Aqsa Mahmood
  • Travelled to Syria with her 18-month old son, fleeing domestic abuse from her British partner
  • Settled in Raqqa and lived in a house for unmarried women, refused to marry twice and so left after 3 months
  • Returned to the UK, jailed for six years and ordered to complete a de-radicalisation program
Women who attempted to travel to Syria or Iraq to become an IS bride
Name Year of Birth Date of joining Status Home Country Notes
Jaelyn Delshaun Young 1994 2015 Imprisoned since 2016  United States
  • Attempted to move to Syria with her partner, Muhammad "Moe" Dakhalla
  • Sentenced to 12 years in prison
Shannon Maureen Conley 1996 2014 Released from prison in 2019  United States
  • Radicalised at the age of 19 by IS members in Syria, fell in love with a Tunisian fighter
  • Converted to Islam and attempted to board a plane from Denver to Turkey
  • Captured by the FBI, sentenced to four years in prison
Keonna Thomas 1983/4 2013 Released from prison in 2022  United States
  • Mother of two
  • Active online in support of IS under the pseudonym YoungLioness, eventually seeking to join the group by speaking to foreign fighters
  • Arrested in 2015, admitted to planning on abandoning her children and marrying an IS fighter
  • Sentenced to 8 years in prison, released into ten years of supervision
Heather Elizabeth Coffman 1986 2014 Released from prison in 2017  United States
  • Posted IS propaganda, collaborated with another foreign supporter to move to Syria
  • Dated the same foreign supporter until September 2014, when he backed out of moving
  • Began to indocrinate her younger sister before her arrest
  • After her release, began to post comments calling for stricter Islam
Haleema Mustafa 1997 2018 Charges stayed in 2021, currently living in Toronto  Canada
  • Attempted to join IS in 2018 with her husband
  • Travelled to Turkey in June 2018, arrested in July 2018 on charges of attempting to cross the Syrian border
  • Deported to Canada in 2019, husband charged in December 2019
  • Arrested in August 2020, granted bail in March 2021 and had charges stayed in June 2021
Amal / BintRose 2015 Unknown  Austria (Believed)
  • Active on Twitter as a propagandist
  • Amassed over 30 accounts, all suspended
  • Location unknown, evidence gathered by Counter Extremism Project suggest she lived in Austria
  • Last verified social media post in December 2015, but unverified reports of continued activity up to 2020

Statistics

IS brides per country
Country #
 United Kingdom 33
 Australia 14
 United States 10
 France 5
 Germany 4
 Austria 3
 Canada 2
 Finland 2
 Norway 2
 Russia 2
 Belgium 1
 China 1
 Ireland 1
 Malaysia 1
 Morocco 1
 New Zealand 1
 Singapore 1
 Trinidad and Tobago 1

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Number of ISIL brides: (dual or multiple citizens are included in the count for each country of citizenship).

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