A schoolgirl from east London who left the UK to join Islamic State in Syria has married a former butcher from Sydney who has appeared in several jihadi recruitment videos, it has been reported.

The Mail on Sunday said it had been in contact with Abdullah Elmir via encrypted text messages, confirming his marriage to one of three schoolfriends from Bethnal Green who had travelled to Syria.

Amira Abase, Shamima Begum, both then aged 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16, left the UK in February, boarding a flight to Istanbul during their half-term break after deceiving their families.

Speaking to a Mail reporter via the messaging service Kik, Elmir reportedly made a direct threat about Isis sympathisers in the UK being “itching” to attack the country. The newspaper said it has passed on details of the conversation to British intelligence services.

Elmir reportedly praised an attack on a Tunisian beach resort by an Isis-inspired jihadi that left 38 people dead, the majority of whom were British holidaymakers.

“May Allah bless the man who slaughtered those filthy kuffar [infidels] and may Allah grant him the highest level in Jannah [heaven],” Elmir wrote. “May the kuffar that this man killed taste the heat of Jahannam [hell] and their families be reunited with them in there.”



The Mail on Sunday reported last week it had been messaging one of the Bethnal Green schoolgirls, posing as a 16-year-old British girl interested in joining Isis. One of the girls then described her new husband and said he was looking for a second wife.

Australian Abdullah Elmir. Photograph: YouTube

“Hes born muslim, not Asian thow [sic], hes half Lebanese and half Australian,” she wrote, giving a description which matches Elmir, whose father is Lebanese.

All three girls were pupils at the Bethnal Green Academy and friends of another girl who had left London for Syria in December. They are now believed to be living in the Isis stronghold of Raqqa in central Syria.

Two of the teenagers have since contacted their families, telling them they are now married, their parents told the Guardian, requesting the two not be identified.

The girls are understood to have been given a choice of men for marriage and picked their husbands from “catalogue” of those deemed suitable by Isis.

Elmir, who has been nicknamed the “ginger jihadi” for his long red curls, has appeared in numerous recruitment videos aimed at would-be fighters from the west.

The Australian, from western Sydney, appeared in a YouTube clip last year threatening Australia’s prime minister, Tony Abbott. Elmir was reported missing in June 2014, telling his family he was going fishing, but contacting them again after arriving in Turkey to say he was about to “cross the border” into Syria.

A Metropolitan police spokesman said: “The investigation into all of the missing girls continues. It remains a priority to try to prevent people travelling to join terrorist groups whether they be determined terrorists, radicalised individuals or vulnerable teenagers. We will continue to work with our partners and the authorities to combat this risk and prevent tragedies.”