The children of an Austrian teen who became one of two pinup girls for IS after she fled to Syria are to be returned to Austria in a secret rescue mission.
Sabina Selimovic was just 15 when she left home to join the terrorist group in Syria in April 2014, with her friend Samra, before later marrying and having children with IS fighters.
Sabina and Samra were recruited by hate preacher Ebu Tejma, the alias of 35-year-old Bosnian-born religious leader Mirsad Omerovic, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence in Austria.
Ebu Tejma travelled Europe “like a pop star on tour”, driving top-of-the-range sports cars bought with the money he raised from believers. He was convicted in July 2016 of recruiting more than 160 fighters for IS in Syria.
Samra was believed to have died in the war-torn city of Raqqa at the hands of IS terrorists who were said to have clubbed her to death with a hammer in front of other women after she allegedly tried to escape.
Now according to reports, the children of Sabina are to be returned to Austria to live with their grandparents.
Following DNA tests, the grandparents were granted custody of the two children in the middle of August and on August 24 the plans were approved to rescue the children who are currently being kept in the al-Hol Kurdish reception centre in Northern Syria.
Due to security concerns no further details of the rescue effort will be made public.
Peter Guschelbauer from the Austrian Foreign Ministry said: “For us the most important thing is keeping the children’s welfare as our top priority.”
Former Austrian Interior Minister Herbert Kickl from the FPOe criticised the action saying: “In Austria seriously ill children are denied medicines, and there is no more for them in some cases. But there is money for these super expensive rescue missions and money to spend on DNA tests.”
He branded the rescue mission: “A step in the wrong direction.”
The case of a further Austrian woman Maria G.who is also in Syria with her one and four-year-old daughter continues with similar DNA plans in place.
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Story By: Kathryn Quinn, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
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