Zahra Ahmad
Zahra Ahmad | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1992 (age 33–34) |
Zahra Ahmed is an Australian woman who traveled to war-torn Syria, and entered the Daesh controlled region, with her mother Kawsar Abbas, and nine other members of their family.[1] The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported they were joining her father Muhammad Ahmad, who has described himself as an aid worker, not a fighter. Counter-terrorism officials assert the family were encouraged to immigrate to Daesh-territory by the late Muhammad Zahab, a young Australian man who is believed to have been responsible for influencing one third of the Australia's immigrants to Daesh.
Zahra become Muhammad Zahab's second wife.[1]
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation broadcast an interview her, in April 2024, in which she said the women in her family did not choose to immigrate to Daesh, because they had to follow the decisions of the males in their family.[2]
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1
Nino Bucci; Suzanne Dredge (2019-10-19). "How 12 Australian family members ended up detained in Syria after the fall of Islamic State". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
Among these men is notorious Islamic State recruiter Muhammad Zahab, who took the couple's eldest daughter Zahra as a second wife.
- ↑
Rhiona-Jade Armont (2024-04-01). "Australian mum Zahra is stuck in a Syrian camp after living under IS. She fears her sons will be taken away". SBS News. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
Originally from the northern suburbs of Melbourne, the circumstances of how Zahra’s family came to be in Syria are contested. Some male members of her family reportedly joined the IS group, but Zahra maintains the women had no choice but to follow. 'I didn’t make this bed,' she says.