Turkey has sent the first two Belgian IS women, Fatima (24) and Rahma (31) Benmezian, to Belgium by plane on Friday.
When the plane lands at Brussels Airport Zaventem on Friday evening, the two sisters will immediately be arrested and brought to prison, reports VRT NWS. They reportedly do not have any children with them.
The youngest sister, Fatima, escaped from the Kurdish prison camp of Ain Issa in October and managed to cross the Turkish border, where she was arrested at the beginning of November.
Rahma, the oldest sister, escaped another prisoners camp in Al-Hol at the beginning of November, and also fled to Turkey. However, the fact that she was also arrested by the Turkish authorities is new information in Belgium.
The Belgian authorities assume that Turkey is currently holding five more Belgian IS members, one man and four women. The assumption is that they will all be sent back to Belgium. It is not yet clear why the two sisters were sent first, reports Het Laatste Nieuws.
They were both sentenced to five years in prison.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
