British twin sisters are suspected to have travelled to Syria via Istanbul to join their brother in fighting with militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), according to media reports.
"The girls flew from Manchester International Airport to Istanbul. Since their departure the girls have been in contact with their family," a spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said, according to the Daily Mail.
Manchester Police confirmed they have a line of contact with them; however the sisters refuse to come back in spite of their parents' pleas. The family, of Somali origin, is believed to have moved to Britain 10 years ago, Al Arabiya reported.
It is unknown how the two girls, 16, financed their trip to Syria. Officials speculate that jihadists in Syria could have lured the girls over the internet and paid for their transit.
Sources speaking to the British press said it was unlikely the women would be recruited to wage Jihad, and becoming wives of fighters was the most likely scenario.
The news comes as Sir Peter Fahy, chief constable for Greater Manchester police, director of the Association of Chief Police Officers' counter-terrorism committee, warned young women as well as men were being "brainwashed" by "perverted messages."
British security experts estimate up to 500 Britons have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight for the Islamic state, or the Islamic Caliphate, as named by its reclusive ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.