Aqsa Mahmood

Aqsa Mahmood (born 1993) is a citizen of the United Kingdom, from Glasgow, who stirred controversy in 2013 when she was one of the first UK women to voluntarily slip into Daesh territory, when she was 20 years old.^[1]

Aqsa Mahmood
Born	1993 (age 30–31) Glasgow, Scotland
Nationality	British
Occupation	Student
Known for	Named on the UN sanctions list for activities relating to ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida

Early life

Mahmood was born in Glasgow to Pakistani immigrant parents (her father Muzaffar was the first Pakistani to play cricket for the Scottish cricket team).^[2] Mahmood attended Craigholme School and Shawlands Academy in Glasgow.^[3]

ISIS

In 2015, her family challenged the allegation that she played a role in recruiting three teenage girls, the Bethnal Green trio, to follow her example.^[4] Her family expressed surprise over her travel to Daesh territory.^[5]

In April 2015, Mark Rowley, the Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations of the Metropolitan Police Service and the concurrent Chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council Counter-Terrorism Coordination Committee,^[6] told the UK House of Commons Home Affairs Committee that security officials were close to compiling enough evidence to charge Mahmood, if she returned to the UK, or to request extradition, if she tried to settle elsewhere.^[7]

On 28 September 2015 the United Nations placed her on its sanctions list, reserved for those with ties to Al Qaeda.^[8]

UK authorities rescinded her passport, to prevent her return to the United Kingdom.^[9]

In February 2019, The Mirror reported that Mahmood was believed to have died in the warzone.^[10]

See also

• Tareena Shakil

References

1. "Syria girls: Families 'cannot stop crying'". BBC News. 22 February 2015. from the original on 23 October 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
2. Atika Shubert and Bharati Naik (5 September 2014). "How a Glasgow girl became an ISIS bride". CNN. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
3. "Glasgow woman Aqsa Mahmood 'promoting terrorism' on Twitter". BBC News. 2 September 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
4. James Cook (16 March 2015). "Glasgow 'jihadist' Aqsa Mahmood denies recruiting London girls". BBC News. from the original on 29 October 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
5. Ashley Fantz, Atika Shubert, Pamela Brown, Bharati Naik (23 February 2015). "From Scottish teen to ISIS bride and recruiter: the Aqsa Mahmood story". CNN. from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019. 'She was the best daughter you could have,' her father told CNN in an exclusive interview last September. 'We just don't know what happened to her. She loved school. She was very friendly. I have never shouted at her all my life, all my life.'{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
6. "Leadership". About the Met. Metropolitan Police. from the original on 30 April 2013. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
7. . STV TV. 10 March 2015. Archived from the original on 1 July 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2015. Police commissioner Mark Rowley told the Home Affairs Select Committee work was "well advanced" to prosecute 20-year-old Aqsa Mahmood.
8. "Aqsa Mahmood". United Nations. 28 September 2015. from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019. Aqsa Mahmood was listed on 28 September 2015 pursuant to paragraphs 2 and 4 of resolution 2161 (2014) as being associated with Al-Qaida for "participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf of, or in support of", "recruiting for" and "otherwise supporting acts or activities of" Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, listed as Al-Qaida in Iraq (QDe.115).
9. "'Jihadi bride' arrested at Heathrow with two-year-old son". The Week magazine. 22 January 2018. from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019. In one case, Aqsa Mahmood, 22, a suspected Isis recruiter from Glasgow, was stripped of her UK citizenship to prevent her return, The Times says.
10. Brendan Mcginty, Patrick Hill, Dan Warburton (16 February 2019). "Family of Brit ISIS poster girl say 'jihadi brides are better in prison than dead'". The Mirror. from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019. Mahmood was 20 when she joined IS in 2013, inspiring other Brits to follow. She is believed to have been killed as the so-called IS caliphate crumbled.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)