'I just want to go home': German teen girl who fled to Iraq 'regrets' joining Islamic State
A German teenager who joined Islamic State is now being held in detention in Iraq, saying she regrets joining the jihadist group and just wants to come home to her family.
Four German women who joined Islamic State in recent years, including a 16-year-old girl from the small town of Pulsnitz near Dresden, are being held in an Iraqi prison and receiving consular assistance, Der Spiegel magazine reported.
The 16-year-old girl known as Linda W was found with a "malnourished" baby boy in Mosul, who was taken to a medical clinic, before the pair were transferred to Baghdad, The Times reported.
A German teenager who joined Islamic State is now being held in detention in Iraq and says she regrets joining the jihadist group. Picture: Twitter
A source in the Iraqi special operations forces told the newspaper the girl was producing breast milk, but added: “I don’t know for sure that it is her baby, but she keeps him with her always."
Lorenz Haase, senior public prosecutor in Dresden, said he could confirm the teenager had been "located and identified in Iraq" and was receiving consular support but could not say anything on her exact circumstances.
Mr Haase added that Linda could face trial in Iraq.
The 16-year-old girl, known as Linda W, was found with a "malnourished" baby boy in Mosul. Photo: Twitter
“There is the possibility that Linda might be put on trial in Iraq. She might be expelled for being a foreigner or, because she is a minor reported missing in Germany, she could be handed over to Germany," he said.
German broadcasters NDR and WDR and newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung said they had interviewed Linda W. in the infirmary of a military complex in Baghdad and she told them she wanted to leave.
"I just want to get away from here," she was quoted as saying. "I want to get away from the war, from the many weapons, from the noise."
She added: "I just want to go home to my family."
The media outlets said the teenager had told them she regretted joining IS, wanted to be extradited to Germany and would cooperate with authorities.
They said the girl had a gunshot wound on her left thigh and another injury on her right knee that she said was caused during a helicopter attack.
"I'm doing well," she said.
The media outlets said the teenager had told them she regretted joining IS, wanted to be extradited to Germany and would cooperate with authorities. Photo: Twitter
The teen reportedly fled her home in Germany after meeting a jihadi online who pursuaded her to travel to Syria to fight for ISIS. The girl's mother had recently become romantically involved with a caretaker at her school.
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German prosecutors said last week they were checking reports that a 16-year-old under investigation for supporting Islamic State was among five women arrested in the Iraqi city of Mosul, where Iraqi forces declared victory over Islamic State earlier this month.
German authorities have been investigating a teenage girl who went missing from Pulsnitz last summer for alleged contacts with the jihadist group about preparing a possible act of terrorism.
On Tuesday Haase said the girl had traveled to Turkey about a year ago with the apparent goal of reaching Iraq or Syria and security officials had later lost her trail, but new evidence had since emerged in the case.
