The first of four teenage schoolgirls who left London to join Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria has been named in a newspaper as Sharmeena Begum.
The 15-year-old is reported to be the first of four GCSE pupils from the same school to head to the war-torn country to become jihadi brides.
She left the UK in December and is believed to be in the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa with pals Kadiza Sultana, 16, Shamima Begum, 15, and Amira Abase, 15, according to the Daily Mail.
Miss Begum was a pupil at Bethnal Green academy in east London and left Britain before her friends, the paper claims.
It came after new footage emerged purporting to show Sultana, Abase and Shamima Begum just before they were smuggled across the border into Syria.
The footage was obtained by Turkish news network Haber TV, which said it was filmed by someone who aided the girls’ journey into Syria.
It is thought the person holding the camera may have been an ISIS “spy” who has been arrested for helping the girls reach conflict-torn Syria.
The video appears to have been filmed covertly in front of a mosque, where three girls resembling the British trio are gathered.
Men and a woman speak intermittently in foreign languages and in English, apparently giving instructions to the girls.
After one man gives the order to “take the Syrian passports”, car doors are heard closing and a voice is heard saying in English: “It’s nice!”
According to A Haber, a man also tells the girls the protocol for their first hour in Syria and says: “Get your luggage from the bag, do not forget anything.”
The Foreign Office confirmed that a foreign spy had been detained on suspicion of helping three British schoolgirls join ISIS in Syria.
The nationality of the person arrested was not confirmed.
Unconfirmed reports said the man was working for the Canadian secret services, but is not a Canadian or Turkish national.
A source told the Mirror: “The man is currently being questioned after being arrested by Turkish police.
“He was working undercover as a people smuggler.
“The full extent of his connection to ISIS is not yet known.”
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are aware that an arrest has been made by the Turkish National Police and that the Metropolitan Police have informed the families of the three girls.
“There has been close co-operation between ourselves and the Turkish authorities, and the Foreign Secretary is in regular contact with his Turkish counterpart.
“As soon as the UK received this information it was acted upon appropriately.”
Turkish foreign minister Mehmet Cavusoglu said the detained suspect works for the intelligence agency of a country that is part of the US-led coalition against IS.
Mr Cavusoglu did not identify the country but said it was not the United States or a member of the European Union.
The trio fled Britain from Gatwick on February 17 to become “jihadi brides” with militants for ISIS.
They paid more than £1,000 for the flights after possibly selling jewellery belonging to their relatives – who criticised police for not preventing them from leaving.
The families told MPs their children were just normal schoolgirls who watched shows including Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
Met Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe apologised for failing to communicate more directly with the girls’ families – but insisted there was nothing more the force could have done to stop them from leaving.
