 Counter-terrorism police open international search for three girls who left their homes in east London last week and caught a flight to Turkey 
 
 British counter-terrorism police have launched an international hunt to find three London schoolgirls feared to be making their way towards Islamic State (Isis) territory in Syria after fleeing the UK. The girls, named as Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and an unidentified 15-year-old girl, slipped out of their homes in east London last Tuesday and caught a flight to Istanbul, Turkey, from where they are thought to be travelling to the Syrian border. He said "very difficult questions" were being asked about how friends, family and the police had not managed to dissuade the three girls from going to Syria when their best friend had travelled to the country in December. Image caption Kadiza Sultana, aged 16, is the oldest of the trio, who are all in the same school year 
 
 Police have issued a description of the three girls: 
 
 Kadiza Sultana is 5ft 6in and slim build. Photograph: Met police 
 
 The three girls were interviewed in December by detectives about the whereabouts of their friend but were not themselves considered at risk of fleeing Britain. Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) Commander Richard Walton said: “We are extremely concerned for the safety of these young girls and would urge anyone with information to come forward and speak to police. “We are reaching out to the girls using the Turkish media and social media in the hope that Shamima, Kadiza and their friend hear our messages, hear our concerns for their safety and have the courage to return now, back to their families who are so worried about them.” 
 
 Counter-terrorism officers said the three girls left their homes before 8am last Tuesday providing their families with plausible reasons as to why they would be out for the day. They boarded Turkish Airlines flight TK1966, which departed at 12:40pm to Istanbul, Turkey and landed at 6:40pm local time. Shamima is possibly travelling under the name of her 17-year-old sister Aklima Begum, police said. A Turkish Airlines official told the BBC the airline is only responsible for checking that visas are valid for passengers before check-in and boarding flights and that all other security issues before flight are "the responsibility of the official airport authorities". The girls left at a time when British counter-terrorism officials had been warning of the dangers of people traveling to Syria, often via Turkey, to join extremist groups. She was wearing black thick-rimmed glasses, a black hijab, a light brown and black leopard-print scarf, dark red jumper, black trousers and jacket, and was carrying a dark blue cylindrical holdall with white straps. Kadiza is described as 5ft 6in tall, of slim build and wearing black-rimmed glasses, a long black jacket with a hood, grey striped scarf, grey jumper, dark red trousers, and carrying a black holdall. She is also a British national who speaks English with a London accent, and also speaks Bengali. Shamima and the unnamed 15-year-old were reported missing by their families on Tuesday evening, while Kadiza was reported missing on Wednesday morning. She was wearing black, thick-rimmed glasses, a black headscarf, a long dark green jacket with a fur-lined hood, a light yellow long-sleeved top, black trousers and white trainers, and was carrying a black Nike holdall. She speaks English and Amharic. Image caption Shamima Begum, 15, could be travelling under the name of Aklima Begum, police said 
 
 Salman Farsi, a spokesman for the East London Mosque, said he thought the girls had been "misled". "The choice of returning home from Syria is often taken away from those under the control of Islamic State, leaving their families in the UK devastated and with very few options to secure their safe return," he said. "If we are able to locate these girls whilst they are still in Turkey, we have a good possibility of being able to bring them home to their families." Anyone with any information about where they are should call the incident room via the freephone anti-terrorist hotline number on 0800 789 321.”
– Three London teens on their winter break are believed to have skipped town and headed to Syria to join up with ISIS, British police said today, per the BBC. Shamima Begum, 15, and two classmates—Kadiza Sultana, 16, and a 15-year-old friend whose parents asked for anonymity—reportedly got on a plane at Gatwick Airport on Tuesday and flew to Istanbul. They had given their families "plausible reasons" for disappearing for the day, police say, but Shamima and the other 15-year-old were reported missing by Tuesday night; Kadiza was called in on Wednesday morning. Their families are said to be "devastated," according to Richard Walton, head of the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command unit, but they're hoping the girls may still be in Turkey and that they'll see social media pleas for them to return. "[Syria] is an extremely dangerous place, and we have seen reports of what life is like for them and how restricted their lives become," Walton said, per the Guardian. "The choice of returning home from Syria is often taken away from those under the control of [the] Islamic State, leaving their families in the UK … with very few options to secure their safe return." To assure the girls that it's their safety that's paramount, the Metropolitan Police also tweeted a statement from Walton today that said, "This is not about criminalizing people, this is about preventing tragedies," as well as listing a number to call for the girls or anyone who knows where they may be.