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Begum said they were "being killed right now unjustly. It's a two-way thing really because women and children are being killed back in the Islamic State right now and it's kind of retaliation. "Like, their [IS] justification was that it was retaliation so I thought 'Okay, that is a fair justification'." It's kind of retaliation." She added: "I do feel that it's wrong that innocent people did get killed. It's one thing to kill a soldier that is fighting you, it's self-defence, but to kill the people like women and children." IS claimed responsibility for Salman Abedi's suicide bomb attack at Manchester Arena on May 22, 2017, which killed 22 people, including children.

Begum, from Bethnal Green, east London, is claiming repatriation from al-Hawl detention camp in Syria. She gave birth to a baby boy over the weekend. She fled with two school friends to Syria in 2015. Begum, who married a Dutch radical, admitted being unfazed by the horrors of Islamic State- but said she wanted to leave now because of her baby. "They don't have any evidence against me doing anything dangerous. I never made propaganda, I never encouraged people to come to Syria. They don't really have proof that I did anything that is dangerous." Her lawyer Tasnime Akunjee yesterday claimed the authorities could have prevented the 19-year-old fleeing her home to join Islamic State four years ago. Mr Akunjee said officials were guilty of "catastrophic" failures in discharging their duty of care to the then 15-year-old schoolgirl.

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Without acknowledging that her family and those closest to her were probably best placed to spot the changes in Shamima, he claimed police, teachers and social services knew the teenager, and the two friends with whom she fled, were at risk of radicalisation because one of their school friends had already gone to Syria. He said: "We need an urgent inquiry into how Shamima Begum ended up in Syria along with her school friends." Begum's interview sparked outrage from Nikita Malik, the director of the Centre on Radicalisation and Terrorism at the Henry Jackson Society, who told the Express: "This is nothing but blame game. The Bethnal Green girls actively sought out the very IS propaganda that their defenders are now claiming radicalized them. The choice to join IS was Begum’s – as she herself admits. "Nobody made Shamima Begum get on a plane other than herself – she knew what she was doing and was capable of making her own decisions." Mr Akunjee said she followed classmate Sharmeena Begum to Syria. Sharmeena was a pupil at the same east London school, Bethnal Green Academy, as Shamima and her friends Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase, and joined IS two months earlier. The lawyer claimed Tower Hamlets Council council, then led by Mayor John Biggs, should have conducted a serious case review into the girls' flight.

Bethnal Green Academy where Begum went to school

He said the authorities failed to order a review, even after Sultana died in a Russian air strike on Raqqa three years ago. "It is almost inconceivable that to date no agency has been investigated let alone held to account for the litany of failures that resulted in the Bethnal Green schoolgirls managing to travel to Isis. "To my knowledge, neither the Begum family nor any of the other families affected have ever been contacted as part of a formal inquiry that led to these failures." He was backed by Dal Sabu, a former Met chief superintendent who was once the force's most senior Asian officer. "This has been a catastrophic failure in safeguarding," he said. "It is extremely concerning. "There has been no independent review and nothing to suggest that lessons have been learned or that safeguards have been put in place to ever stop this happening again."

But Miss Malik added: "Any attempt to blame the council, the police and her school is nothing but a cynical attempt by Ms Begum's supporters to help her shirk responsibility for her own actions.” Imam Farhad Ahmad of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, said Begum should express sincere regret for joining the terror group and undergo re-education of she is allowed back. He added: "We should ensure she is not a threat for the country but we must also allow criminal justice to take course to determine if crimes have been committed. If she is released into society she should be monitored carefully for a long period and things like internet access should be restricted or carefully monitored. " Last night, Shamima told ITV News she did not understand why she would be considered a danger and expressed "regret" for anyone affected by the actions of IS. She said: "I'm a 19-year-old girl with a newborn baby. I don't have any weapons; I don't want to hurt anyone even if I did have weapons or anything. He has no proof that I was a threat other than that I was in Isis, that's it.

Amira Abase travelling to Syria