Two Norwegian sisters of Somali origin are thought to have been seized in Syria after fleeing Norway to support the rebels in the Middle Eastern country, according to their father.
Speaking to public broadcaster NRK, the man said they are being detained against their will.
In response to the matter, a spokesman for the Norwegian foreign ministry said they had yet to receive confirmation the sisters were in Syria, but if they have been captured there, it would be a very serious issue.
Norwegian police launched an international search for the sisters, aged 19 and 16, through Interpol on 21 October, three days after they were reported missing. The girls’ identities have not been made public.
The girls’ father, who has also chosen to remain anonymous, said they contacted him last Tuesday via Facebook, saying they believed they were somewhere near the Iraqi border. He said they said they were in Syria but weren’t exactly sure where, and that they regretted what they did and just wanted to come home.
The girls moved from Somalia, where they were born, to Norway with their parents in 2000.
Shortly after they left Norway, they wrote an email to their parents explaining that they left because Muslims are under attack and something must be done. They said they want to help Muslims, and to do so they need to be with them to feel their joys and pains.
At the time they reported them missing, the parents said they believed the girls could have headed for Syria, and there were reported sightings of them close to the troubled country’s border.