World

SDF Confirms Baby Son of Daesh Teen Bride Begum Has Died of Pneumonia - Reports

The baby son of Shamima Begum, a teenager who fled London to join Daesh, died less than three weeks after his birth.
Sputnik

A spokesman for Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) confirmed that the baby son of Shamima Begum has died, BBC reported.

A paramedic working for the Kurdish Red Crescent in and around the camp told the broadcaster that the baby, named Jarrah, had been suffering from breathing difficulties. He was taken to a doctor on Thursday morning before being transferred to a hospital along with his mother, but died at 13:30 local time that day.

Begum’s husband, a Dutch Daesh fighter called Yago Riedijk, is being held at a nearby prison and has been informed of the baby's death.

READ MORE: Shamima Begum: 'Strong' Reports Daesh Bride's Baby 'Has Died' — Lawyer

UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid, who had stripped Begum of her British citizenship earlier this year, said he has “nothing but sympathy for the children that have been dragged into this [conflict].”

“Sadly there are probably many children, obviously perfectly innocent, who have been born in this war zone,” he said. 

Begum, 19, gave birth to her son last month, shortly after being tracked down by a journalist in a Syrian refugee camp years after she left the UK in 2015 with two friends.

Legal Expert on Begum Saga: There are Other Options Beyond Stripping Citizenship
Begum said she had previously lost two other children in Syria and named her newborn son Jarrah, her third child, after her firstborn. As her child was born before she was deprived of UK citizenship by the Home Office, the baby would still be considered British.

Earlier Mohammed Tasnime Akunjee, Begum family's lawyer, had announced that he received "strong" but "unconfirmed" reports that the boy had died in the camp for displaced Daesh families.

According to her lawyer, Begum had relocated from Al-Hol to another area near the border with Iraq after getting death threats from other Daesh brides in the camp for showing her face on camera and speaking to the international media. She also expressed regret for having spoken to the media, telling the Sunday Telegraph in a February 24 interview that the UK government only stripped her of her citizenship because she had received significant media coverage, pointing out that other Daesh brides and their children have been allowed to return to the UK from Syria.

* Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/Islamic State/IS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many countries.

Discuss