Claims a spy helped three British schoolgirls escape to Syria to join IS

IT’S what has had security chiefs baffled; who helped the three British schoolgirls flee to Syria to join IS? The answer could have grave consequences for the US-coalition.

CORRECTING DATE TO MONDAY FEB. 23 - This is three image combo of stills taken from CCTV issued by the Metropolitan Police in London on Monday Feb. 23, 2015, Kadiza Sultana, 16, left, Shamima Begum,15, centre and and 15-year-old Amira Abase going through security at Gatwick airport, before they caught their flight to Turkey on Tuesday Feb 17, 2015. The three teenage girls left the country in a suspected bid to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State extremist group.(AP Photo/Metropolitan Police) NO ARCHIVE

IN a new twist to the case of three British schoolgirls who escaped to Syria to join IS, it has been revealed they had help from a spy linked to the Canadian secret service.

The Turkish foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, told a television network the person caught assisting the girls was a spy for the US-led coalition.

“He was caught. It turned out to be someone who works for the intelligence of a country from the coalition,” Mr Cavusoglu said.

He didn’t say which country the spy was working for, but said it was not the European Union or the United States. The coalition also includes countries like Australia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain, and Canada.

Fifteen-year-old Amira Abase, left, Kadiza Sultana, 16, centre, and Shamima Begum, 15, go through Gatwick Airport, south of London.

A European security source familiar with the case told Reuters the person the Minister was talking about had a connection with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) spy agency.

A Canadian government source in Ottawa said the person was not a Canadian citizen and was not employed by CSIS. The source did not respond when asked whether the person had been working for CSIS.

The spy agency did not respond to requests for comment. The office of Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney — in overall charge of law enforcement — said it did not comment on operational matters.

Shamima Begum, 15, and Amira Abase, also 15, going through security at Gatwick Airport, before they caught their flight to Turkey on Tuesday Feb. 17, 2015.

A Turkish official who declined to be identified told Reuters the spy was now in custody.

“The person was working for the intelligence agency of a coalition country but is not a citizen of that country. The person was not a Turkish citizen either,” he said.

Islamic State seized large swathes of land last June, including territory close to the Turkish border. The US-led coalition is using mostly air power in an attempt to push the militant group back.

British police and the girls’ families have issued appeals for their daughters to return home after they flew to Istanbul from London on February 17. Amira Abase, 15, Shamima Begum, 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16, are thought to have since entered Syrian territory controlled by the Islamic State.

Thousands of foreigners from more than 80 nations, including Britain, other parts of Europe, China and the United States, have joined the ranks of Islamic State and other radical groups in Syria and Iraq, many crossing through Turkey.

Turkey says it needs more information from foreign intelligence agencies to intercept them and claimed the UK had not told it in enough time about the schoolgirls for it to act.

Originally published as Claims a spy helped three British schoolgirls escape to Syria to join IS