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Community concerned Bradford family may be heading for Syria | |
(about 2 hours later) | |
A community leader has said he is "extremely concerned" for the safety of a missing Bradford family amid fears they may be trying to get to Syria. | |
Imran and Farzana Ameen and their five children, aged five to 15, were reported missing on Tuesday, West Yorkshire Police said. | |
Ishtiaq Ahmed, from the Bradford Council for Mosques, said the local Muslim community was "shocked and concerned" for the family's welfare. | Ishtiaq Ahmed, from the Bradford Council for Mosques, said the local Muslim community was "shocked and concerned" for the family's welfare. |
They were last seen on 5 October. | |
Officers said the family, who live on Birch Lane in the West Bowling area of the city, is believed to have travelled to Turkey - though their "current whereabouts are unknown". | |
Turkey is a known staging post for British people heading for the Syrian war-zone. | |
Earlier this year, sisters Khadija Dawood, 30, Sugra Dawood, 34, and Zohra Dawood, 33, also from Bradford, went missing after going on an Islamic pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia with their nine children. | |
Whereabouts and motivation | |
A smuggler told the BBC he had taken them over the border into Syria to an area held by the so-called Islamic State group. | |
Speaking to BBC Radio Leeds, Mr Ahmed was asked if his organisation had done enough to dissuade people from travelling to Syria following the disappearance of the Dawoods. | |
He said: "I think over the years and months we have worked with our membership through mosques and through our faith schools and through other community relations to basically emphasise to individuals and families that Syria is not a safe place for anyone to travel. | |
"We need to know more information regarding this family - about their whereabouts and what their motivation may be. | |
"The safety and wellbeing of the children is paramount." | |
A cousin of Farzana Ameen said the family's disappearance was "totally out of the blue". | |
In an interview on BBC Radio Leeds, Arshid Siddique said Mrs Ameen had recently taken her ill mother to Pakistan. | |
Police said officers were working with relatives of the family still in the UK as well as the Turkish authorities. | |
West Yorkshire's assistant chief constable, Russ Foster, said: "We would urge anyone with information about the family's whereabouts to come forward and speak to police so the family can safely return to the UK. |