Radical Islamists could exploit the decision to strip Shamima Begum of her British citizenship, the Government's chief adviser on countering extremism has warned.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid made the move after the teenager, who fled London aged 15 to join the so-called Islamic State caliphate in Syria, said she wanted to return to the UK with her newborn son.

Independent adviser Sara Khan has cautioned that the Government must acknowledge the anxiety caused by the decision, with extremists being eager to 'exploit alienation and grievance'.

'While it is for courts to test the legality of decisions such as deprivation of citizenship, we have to also ask how measures such as this impact wider work on countering extremism,' she said.

Counter-terrorism adviser Sara Khan fears the decision to strip ISIS bride Shamima Begum of her British citizenship could backfire and inspire radical Islamists

The letter obtained by ITV News asks Begum's family to inform her of the decision to revoke her citizenship and her right to appeal it, which they will

'The Government has to recognise the unease felt by a wide range of people about decisions of this kind, not least those from minority communities with dual nationality.

'It has to build trust in its approach, because Islamist extremists will exploit alienation and grievance to turn people against their country.'

The family of jihadi bride Shamima Begum have written to the Home Secretary challenging his decision to revoke her British citizenship.

Sajid Javid blocked the 19-year-old’s return earlier this week, saying she poses a risk to the country’s security.

But in a letter to Mr Javid, her family have said they ‘cannot simply abandon her’ and that her status is ‘a matter for our British courts’.

Begum, who left east London to join Islamic State in 2015, has repeatedly begged from a Syrian refugee camp to be allowed to return home. She gave birth to a baby boy last Sunday and says that she wants to return to the UK with him.

Her family, who live in Bethnal Green, said they are ‘sickened’ by the comments she has made recently, but have asked for assistance in bringing her home.

According to the BBC the letter, written by her sister Renu Begum on behalf of the family, says: ‘As we have already expressed, we are sickened by the comments she has made, but, as a family man yourself, we hope you will understand that we, as her family cannot simply abandon her.

‘We have a duty to her, and a duty to hope that as she was groomed into what she has become, she can equally be helped back into the sister I knew, and daughter my parents bore.

‘We hope you understand our position in this respect and why we must, therefore, assist Shamima in challenging your decision to take away the one thing that is her only hope at rehabilitation, her British citizenship.’

The remorseless 19-year-old, pictured here in an interview in a Syrian refugee camp, says Britain should have 'sympathy' for her

Begum's baby son Jerah is entitled to British citizenship - but could try to argue he is Dutch because of the nationality of its jihadi father Yago Riedijk. She is hanging her hopes on getting Dutch citizenship off the back of it

Shamima Begum and her friend fled to Syria by flying to Istanbul and getting a bus across Turkey to the ISIS capital, Raqqa. She moved to Mayadin with her jihadi husband Yago Riedijk but fled Baghuz when he was captured and is now in al-Hawl

It came as Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was criticised after saying Begum should be allowed back into the UK and given the ‘support that she needs’.

He accused Mr Javid of a ‘very extreme manoeuvre’ in stripping her of British citizenship – on the basis that she is entitled to live in Bangladesh because her parents were born there.

Mr Corbyn said making Begum stateless is ‘not the right thing to do’. She had ‘a lot of questions to answer’ but should be allowed to return to the UK and ‘at that point any action may or may not be taken’. He said: ‘The idea of stripping anyone of their citizenship when they’re born in Britain is a very extreme manoeuvre. I question the right of the Home Secretary to have these powers.’

The UK must take back British jihadis in Syria – or face the prospect of them making their own way back to carry out a wave of terror attacks, the head of the forces holding them said yesterday.

Abdul Karim Omar, the de facto foreign minister in the Kurdish-held north of the country, said his Syrian Democratic Forces had done their duty by defeating Islamic State, and now Britain must play its part.

In a stark warning, he said the baby of jihadi bride Shamima Begum and dozens of other children could become ‘ticking timebombs’ if left in the Middle East.

Mr Omar said there were around 1,500 children of IS fighters in northern Syria’s refugee camps, along with 800 foreign fighters and 700 foreign wives.

At least six British jihadis are being held in prisons, including two members of the notorious ‘Beatles’ gang accused of beheading western hostages. UK intelligence agencies believe dozens of British women and their children are in three refugee camps.

Mr Omar, joint head of foreign relations for the UK and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, warned many were likely to escape or be set free in fighting which will follow western forces leaving the country.

He said: ‘This region is not stable politically and militarily. If there is war and attacks, those fighters and their wives will come back to Britain and be terrorists. Not only the fighters but also the children. If they are not rehabilitated in their countries of origin they will be ticking timebombs.’

He added: ‘We did our duty here in this region. These countries should do their duty as well and take their citizens and judge them and take their wives and children too.

‘Britain should take responsibility for its citizens here.’