Three mothers and nine children from West Yorkshire are feared to have travelled to Syria after Islamic pilgrimage, says lawyer for two of the fathers

An urgent appeal has been launched to track down three sisters and their nine children who travelled from Britain to Saudi Arabia for an Islamic pilgrimage and did not return, amid concerns from a family lawyer that they may have travelled to Syria.

The 12 members of the Dawood family from Bradford, West Yorkshire, are aged between three and 34 and had been due to come back to the UK last Thursday, having left for Saudi Arabia on 28 May.

Balaal Khan, a solicitor, said there were serious concerns that they may be headed to Syria and it was possible they had travelled there via Turkey. He said he had been instructed by two of the fathers of the nine children, who had become extremely concerned when they could not get in touch with their families.

“The suspicion and main concern is that the women have taken their children to Syria,” he said. “One of the possibilities is they travelled to Turkey to travel to Syria.” This is understood to be one line of inquiry being pursued by police.

The fathers are concerned that their children’s lives are in danger, Khan added. “The concern is for the wellbeing and safety of the children. The fathers are distraught; they feel helpless and they don’t know what to do. They want the children out of harm’s way.”

Khan said he understood that the three sisters had a brother who had already left the UK for Syria, but said he had no further information about him or any group he may have gone to join.

Police were alerted five or six days ago about the disappearance, Khan said, but officers had been constrained because the family were outside their jurisdiction. Preliminary inquiries suggest 10 members of the family boarded a flight from Medina, Saudi Arabia, to Istanbul, Turkey, on 9 June, lawyers for the family said.

The missing are Khadija Dawood, 30, and her children Maryam Siddiqui, seven, and Muhammad Haseeb, five; Sugra Dawood, 34, and her children Junaid Ahmed Iqbal, 15, Ibrahim Iqbal, 14, Zaynab Iqbal, eight, Mariya Iqbal, five, and Ismaeel Iqbal, three; and Zohra Dawood, 33. They are all believed to have travelled to the Turkish capital.



However, no details have been found for Zohra Dawood’s children – Haafiyah Binte Zubair, eight, and Nurah Binte Zubair, five – boarding that flight. Their absence from the records may be a computer glitch, Khan said.

The statement from Khan Solicitors said: “The family of the missing persons are extremely worried and feel helpless.” There has been no contact from any of the family since 9 June, their mobile phones have not been active and their social media profiles, including Facebook and Whatsapp, have not been updated, the statement said.

Two of the missing women are understood to live in the Thornbury area of Bradford, a few miles east of the city centre. West Yorkshire police are investigating and have contacted the Turkish authorities.

A spokesman said the force was supporting the family, and officers were “working extensively with authorities overseas to try to locate them”. However, there had been no sightings or contact with the family in Turkey yet. Detectives were at the Khan’s Solicitors office in Bradford city centre on Monday night. Assistant chief constable Russ Foster said: “We are extremely concerned for the safety of the family and would urge anyone with information to come forward and speak to us. Our priority is for their safe return, their families are gravely worried about them and want them home. One of our primary concerns is the safety and welfare of the young children.”

Khan said he and West Yorkshire police would issue a joint statement on Tuesday with more details about the family and the circumstances of their disappearance.