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U.K. teens joined ISIS, Canada accused of coverup

The story behind allegations that a man smuggled British teens into ISIS-controlled Syria while Canadian intelligence used him as an informant.
CBC News ·
Portrait of a young woman.
Shamima Begum made worldwide headlines when, at 15, she left the U.K. with two teenage friends to join ISIS. Four years later, having lost three children to disease and malnutrition, she surrendered to the coalition forces and is now held in a detention camp in northern Syria. (Alba Sotorra/Sky Documentaries)
Front Burner24:47U.K. teens joined ISIS, Canada accused of coverup

It's been seven years since British teen Shamima Begum, then 15 years old, entered Syria with two school friends to join ISIS. 

One of Begum's friends has since gone missing, and the other was reportedly killed in an airstrike on Raqqa. Begum herself disappeared for years before encountering a journalist in al-Hawl prison camp in 2019, begging to return to the U.K. for the safety of her child, who subsequently died. 

Now, the BBC says the man who smuggled the girls into Syria was actually a double agent, providing information to Canadian intelligence as he trafficked for ISIS. A new book by U.K.-based writer Richard Kerbaj also accuses Canada of asking British officials to help cover up the connection. 

BBC journalist Joshua Baker has been interviewing Begum for the upcoming podcast, I'm Not A Monster: The Shamima Begum Story. Today, what he's learned about Begum's journey and Canada's involvement from a dossier on her alleged smuggler.

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