Community leaders speak of
their shock at hearing that a Yorkshire teenager has apparently become
Britain's youngest suicide bomber during an attack in Iraq.
Islamic State posted pictures on Twitter of Talha Asmal preparing for the suicide attack
Community
leaders in the home town of a West Yorkshire teenager who reportedly
carried out a suicide bombing in Iraq have spoken of their shock.
Talha Asmal's family say he was groomed online, and Downing Street described the case as "deeply concerning".
Dewsbury councillor Masood Ahmed said there had been no signs that the 17-year-old had been radicalised.
Number 10 said the government wanted to work with social media firms to stop young people being targeted.
At
least 11 people were killed in the car bombings carried out by four
suicide bombers near the city of Baiji, north of Baghdad on Saturday.
Social
media reports linked to militant group Islamic State (IS) said Asmal,
going by the name of Abu Yusuf al-Britani, was among the attackers.
Confirmation would make Asmal Britain's youngest known suicide bomber.
Another West Yorkshire teenager, Hasib Hussein, was 18 when he blew himself up on a London bus in the 7 July 2005 attacks.
A
pupil who attended the same school as Asmal has told the BBC that he
believes the sixth former was persuaded to join Islamic State by someone
within the community.
Asmal travelled to Syria in March, with
fellow Dewsbury teenager Hassan Munshi, whose brother was himself jailed
in the UK for terrorism offences.
Tracking Britain's jihadists
The stories of those who have died, been convicted of offences relating to the Islamic State conflict or are still in Syria or Iraq The former independent reviewer of terror laws Lord Carlile told BBC Radio 4's Today programme MPs should be "working together on a non-partisan basis to produce solutions" to the issue of radicalisation.
He criticised some social media companies for not co-operating enough with the government and security services.
But Downing Street rejected the idea of compelling firms to co-operate through legislation.
David
Cameron's official spokeswoman said the prime minister felt the case
"underlines the need to do all we can to prevent young people being
radicalised and, if they are thinking of travelling, to stop them from
doing so".
Lorraine Barker, executive principal of Mirfield Free Grammar and Sixth Form, where Asmal was studying, told the Times he was a "conscientious student".
Staff and students had been in "complete shock" when he travelled to Syria.
Asmal's family said it seemed he had been targeted by people "too cowardly to do their own dirty work"
In a statement issued on Sunday, his family said he had been a "loving, kind, caring and affable teenager".
They
said he had been "exploited by persons unknown who, hiding behind the
anonymity of the world wide web... engaged in a process of deliberate
and calculated grooming of him...
"We are all naturally utterly devastated and heartbroken".
Analysis
By Dominic Casciani, home affairs correspondent
Talha Asmal's family say he was groomed. That makes him, in their eyes, a teenage victim, rather than a criminal or terrorist.
Ten
years ago, the UK had the same debate about suicide bombers from
Yorkshire who killed 52 people in London in the 7/7 attacks.
Today, the UK's police and security agencies have a wide range of powers and techniques to disrupt would-be terrorists.
But
the police can't arrest everyone - and evidence shows it is difficult
to bring someone back from the edge, once they are radicalised.
In
two weeks' time, public bodies, including schools, will be under a
controversial but groundbreaking new legal duty to prevent people being
drawn towards terrorism.
Critically, it is directly linked to other legal duties of "safeguarding" the young from harm.
So this really thorny question of "prevention rather than cure" is where the debate is now shifting. Shahid
Malik, former MP for Dewsbury and a family friend of the Asmals, said
it was "disturbing" to see how relaxed Talha looked in the IS
photographs allegedly taken prior to his suicide mission.
"This is a clear indication of just how successful the evil Isis groomers have been in poisoning and brainwashing," he said.
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Media captionLeeds
Imam Qari Asim says that "radicalisation is not taking place in
mosques" but "vulnerable young people are being brainwashed" online
He
added: "Mosques need to confront this evil ideology head-on... I would
say that up and down the country that is not happening at the moment."
The
case also prompted criticism of the government's counter-terrorism
strategy with shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper urging a "stronger
plan" for community-led action.
It comes as Kenya says a Briton was among 11 al-Shabab gunmen killed in a failed attack on a military base.
Thomas Evans, 25, a Muslim convert from Buckinghamshire, joined the Islamist group in Somalia three years ago.
Teenagers Hassan Munshi (L) and Talha Asmal left the UK on 31 March, apparently to join IS
At least 700 people from the UK
have travelled to support or fight for jihadist organisations in Iraq
and Syria, with the majority joining IS.
The Home Office said
since 2011 it had trained more than 160,000 people to identify and
prevent extremism; excluded nearly 100 "hate preachers" and taken down
more than 90,000 pieces of terrorist-related material from the internet.
It had also removed or refused 30 passports in 2013 and 2014
where people were considered to be at risk of travelling to Syria or
Iraq.
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