Two London girls in Syria have married, families say

(From left) Kadiza Sultana, Amira Abase and Shamima Begum went missing in February

The families of two east London schoolgirls who travelled to Syria are "distraught" after learning they have married, their solicitor has said.

Shamima Begum and Amira Abase, both 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16, left home in February to join the Islamic State (IS) group, and two of them are now married.

The families are not identifying which of the girls have married.

Tasnime Akunjee, who represents the families, says it "does not bode well" that those girls will now return.

The Bethnal Green Academy pupils flew from Gatwick to Turkey on 17 February after telling their parents they were going out for the day. They later entered Syria and are thought to be in Raqqa, the self-styled capital of the so-called Islamic State.

Mr Akunjee said the girls had contacted their families "some weeks ago" to tell them of the marriages, which took place "some time ago".

He added: "The families learned that the girls were not together in Raqqa three months ago, and it was because two of them were married.

"They are distraught, because it doesn't bode well for their return. The girls are starting to grow roots socially, and deep roots."

Video dismissed

Mr Akunjee said the men the girls married are in their 20s, but said it is not known whether they are IS fighters.

However, the Guardian reports that the two schoolgirls married in ceremonies approved by IS authorities.

The three girls had been studying for their GCSEs at the school in Tower Hamlets, east London - where they have been described as "straight-A students".

A fourth girl from the school is believed to have travelled to Syria in December.

Mr Akunjee also said a video published by the Daily Telegraph claiming to show the girls in Raqqa, in the care of a woman handler, is unlikely to be them.

"The girls were not together at the time of the video," he said. "It's unlikely that they would have been under the aegis of the leader of a woman's centre."