Chechen woman accused of links with Syrian militants

Law enforcers have put a female resident of Chechnya, accused of links with militants in Syria, on the wanted list. She left Chechnya after her husband, who had fought for militants, and then disappeared with her children, her relatives assert.

According to investigators, the 27-year-old woman secretly left for Syria several years ago, where she joined the "Islamic State" (Is or ISIL), a terrorist organization, banned in Russia by the court.

"Her husband left for Syria in 2013, leaving her with a child. Then, he contacted her and persuaded her to come to Syria. Two more children were born there. Zalina's mother tried to bring her daughter and grandchildren home; she even went there after her, but she didn't manage to bring them home," a relative of the accused named Aset told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"Zalina's story is typical of many wives of those who went to fight in Syria ... Her husband moved there, then lured her too. In 2017, he perished; and she with her children ended up in Iraq, in the city of Mosul, where then mainly militants' families stayed there. What happened to her is unknown," another Zalina's relative has added.

"In Mosul, a lot of women and children died under bombings ... If she had been alive, she would have let her relatives know about herself," the relative believes.

"In Northern Caucasus, the society doesn't reject the women and children-members of militants' families, but this does not apply to those who have returned from Syria," said Ekaterina Sokiryanskaya, Director of the Centre for Conflict Analysis and Prevention.