Three British schoolgirls who fled the country last month to join ISIS will not face any terrorism-related charges if they return, according to counterterrorism chief Mark Rowley.
Rowley, who was testifying to the British parliament, says there is no evidence the three girls have done anything terrorism related, and also denied there was any wrongdoing by police in their fleeing the country.
“There was nothing more we could have done to prevent” the girls leaving the country, Rowley insisted, saying it was unrealistic for people to expect the police to stop every 15-year-old girl trying to join ISIS.
Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe went on to say that a “minimum” of 700 Britons are known to have gone to Syria to join militant groups, the largest figure British officials have yet put forward.
