A smuggler in charge of the border operation of the Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) confirmed to the BBC that three sisters from Bradford, U.K., and their nine children have split into two groups and crossed into Syria. The first group went in on Wednesday and the second on Thursday.
The sisters, Khadija, Sugra and Zohra Dawood, and their children were reported missing on June 11 following a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
It was also reported that one of the sisters, Zohra, had sent a message to her family saying that she was inside Syria but did not detail where.
Two of their husbands, Akhtar Iqbal and Mohammed Shoaib, made an emotional appeal during a press conference on Tuesday imploring their families to return home.
The women’s brother is believed to to be fighting with ISIS in Syria.
More Must-Reads from TIME
- L.A. Fires Show Reality of 1.5°C of Warming
- How Canada Fell Out of Love With Trudeau
- Trump Is Treating the Globe Like a Monopoly Board
- Bad Bunny On Heartbreak and New Album
- 10 Boundaries Therapists Want You to Set in the New Year
- The Motivational Trick That Makes You Exercise Harder
- Nicole Kidman Is a Pure Pleasure to Watch in Babygirl
- Column: Jimmy Carter’s Global Legacy Was Moral Clarity
Contact us at letters@time.com