Three British teenagers believed to be on their way to joining Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Syria are now being held in custody in Istanbul, according to UK and Turkish officials.
The trio, all males from the London area ranging in age from 17 to 19, were detained on Friday after British officers alerted their counterparts in Turkey about the teens who had gone missing, Reuters reported.
BREAKING - Scotland Yard confirms 2 17 year old boys and an 19 year old detained in Turkey on route to Syria. All 3 from London area— Mark White (@skymarkwhite) March 15, 2015
Exclusive: A senior Turkish official confirms to me that the UK has tipped the Turks off about the 2 and Turks tracked down the third (2)— Güney Yıldız (@guneyyildiz) March 15, 2015
"Officers alerted the Turkish authorities who were able to intercept all three males, preventing travel to Syria," a spokesperson for the UK police said, according to the BBC. "They remain in detention in Turkey."
The teens are expected to be deported back to the UK later this week.
Scotland Yard:Three British teenagers detained in Istanbul trying to join Islamic State are all male -- All three will be deported this week— Güney Yıldız (@guneyyildiz) March 15, 2015
The incident came shortly after three British teenage girls made their way into Syria to join ISIS. UK Prime Minister David Cameron later reportedly said he was "horrified" by the situation, and pushed for airlines to do more to prevent those at risk from joining the extremist group.