Shamima Begum: Friend who inspired IS defection mocks her as non-believer

Shamima Begum's champion friend, whom she says inspired her to articulation IS, has been tracked down by the BBC having escaped from a detention campy successful Syria.

Sharmeena Begum, nary relation, dismissed her erstwhile friend, who wants to instrumentality to the UK, for "living disconnected benefits" and mocked her arsenic a non-believer.

The BBC besides recovered Sharmeena was fundraising online for members of the IS panic group, which is illegal.

A apical Syrian commandant fears wealth similar this is helping IS to regroup.

Posing arsenic an Islamic State (IS) sympathiser, a writer from the Shamima Begum Story podcast contacted Sharmeena online aft she escaped from Syria's Camp Hol situation for women who were with IS, and their children.

Sharmeena is inactive successful Syria, successful hiding and utilizing a antithetic identity.

She was a schoolmate of Shamima Begum, successful Bethnal Green, eastbound London, when, successful December 2014, Sharmeena abruptly went missing. She had tally distant to articulation the self-styled Islamic State panic radical successful Syria.

Two months aboriginal Shamima and 2 different friends followed their ex-schoolmate to the alleged caliphate that had been acceptable up by IS.

Shamima went connected to wed an IS combatant and person 3 children, each of whom died. After the illness of IS successful 2019 she was recovered surviving successful a campy successful Syria, and stripped of her British citizenship.

Shamima maintains it was Sharmeena who convinced her to articulation IS and travel successful her footsteps.

The BBC tracked Sharmeena Begum down having been fixed a tip-off astir a societal media relationship she was using.

During our exchanges with her, Sharmeena claimed her one-time person was "just different individual, surviving disconnected the benefits" who did not lend astatine all.

She says Shamima lone came to Syria due to the fact that "she conscionable followed her friends into what became the biggest misery of her life".

Despite speculation that Shamima Begum had worked successful Hisba - the IS spiritual constabulary - and made termination belts, Sharmeena says specified theories were "such an insult".

She says Shamima did not permission her location unless her hubby was distant due to the fact that helium would not let her out.

In her exchanges with the BBC, she mocked Shamima arsenic a nonaccomplishment and a non-believer, saying she had ruined the representation of the women who had joined IS.

A erstwhile IS subordinate has told the BBC Sharmeena is fanatical adjacent by the standards of IS. When asked if she regretted joining IS, Sharmeena skirted implicit the question, saying lone she didn't privation to travel backmost to Britain and spell to jail.

It's hard to cognize however earnestly to instrumentality Sharmeena's statement of her erstwhile schoolfriend's activities, fixed Shamima's ineligible attempts to instrumentality to the UK.

For her part, Shamima said her one-time person played a large relation successful convincing her to question to Syria successful the archetypal place.

"Sharmeena was, you know, talking to america face-to-face about, you know, coming to ISIS.

"I was being manipulated into reasoning this was the close happening to bash and I was being manipulated with lies astir wherever I would beryllium going and what I would beryllium doing.

"I mean, successful my opinion, adjacent though Sharmeena astir apt is inactive radical. I volition accidental she was besides a unfortunate of ISIS."

Shamima herself has antecedently accepted she joined a panic radical erstwhile she fled Britain and she understands the nationalist choler towards her.

While surviving successful hiding, Sharmeema Begum has been fundraising with the proceeds getting into the hands of IS. She has been posting stories connected societal media and messaging platforms, astir conditions successful detention camps, and appealing for Bitcoin. She has cultivated followers astir the satellite arsenic she asks radical to nonstop her currency for the women held successful the camps.

It's not wide however overmuch she has raised successful total, but 1 relationship revealed 29 transactions with deposits totalling $3,000 (£2,450). She is besides utilizing different accounts and different cryptocurrencies.

When asked wherefore she was raising wealth for a panic group, Sharmeena claimed she was "simply feeding and covering women and children who are poor".

The commandant of the Syrian Democratic Forces which guards detainees astatine Camp Hol, said IS is regrouping and is smuggling wealth into the camps, which tin beryllium utilized to bargain weapons, and program escapes and attacks.

"If we... look astatine the camps, determination are small children who are a fewer years aged and are being raised connected the ideology of however to kill," said Gen Newroz Ahmed. She says her radical are among those being targeted and killed.

The campy is location to much than 65,000 radical and 57 nationalities, and guards determination accidental they person recovered grenades, guns and explosive belts that person been smuggled in. They accidental 50 radical person been murdered determination successful a six-month period.

In January, the United States and Turkey announced associated enactment to disrupt the transportation of wealth to the Islamic State group.