A British family has recognized their teenage son after a photo was released by the Islamic State showing the 17-year-old posing under its flag.
The picture included a statement asserting the teen, Talha Asmal, had detonated a suicide bomb near the Iraqi city of Baiji, according to a report by CNN.
The United Kingdom’s North East Counter Terrorism Unit said in a statement Sunday it was aware of the media rumors that a British citizen was involved in a terrorist bombing in Iraq. The identity of the person has not yet been confirmed.
While ISIS’ claim has yet to be authenticated, Asmal’s family released a statment Sunday expressing their shock with their son’s involvement in the terrorist organization.
“Talha was a loving, kind, caring and affable teenager. He never harbored any ill will against anybody nor did he ever exhibit any violent, extreme or radical views of any kind,” the family said.
The boy boarded a flight to Turkey with his friend Hassan Munshi in April. The family immediately appealed for his return after fearing the two boys would turn to ISIS, according to The Guardian.
“As a result of this and completely unbeknown to us, his family, and entirely against our wishes, he ended up traveling it seems to Iraq,” the family said.
If reports regarding Asmal’s involvement in the terrorist organization are confirmed, he will be the youngest suicide bomber recorded to come from the United Kingdom.
Teenagers are beginning to defect to the Islamic State as the issue becomes more popularized in the media. Three British girls were caught by surveillance cameras trying to board a plane to join ISIS this year, according to CNN. Abdullah Elmir, a 17-year-old Australian teenager that has appeared in multiple terrorist recruitment videos, fled his home country to travel to Turkey, where he traveled on foot to an ISIS controlled camp in Syria.
The North East Counter Terrorism Unit hopes teenagers fully understand the risks of attempting to join ISIS. In a statement, the anti-terrorism agency pleads with teenagers making the decision to consider the consequences.
“Syria is an extremely dangerous place. The choice of returning home from Syria is often taken away from those that come under the control of Islamic State, leaving their families in the UK devastated and with very few options to secure their safe return,” the statement read.
Asmal’s family asserted that they are a “close knit, hardworking, peace loving and law abiding British Muslim family.”
“ISIS Not and Never in our name,” the family stressed.