And a 32-year-old woman has been charged with terror-related offences<\/a> after arriving at Sydney International Airport on Thursday evening.<\/p>\n Here’s everything we know about the group and what awaits them.<\/p>\n What is the Islamic State group?<\/p>\n Islamic State \u2014 also known as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh \u2014 is a Sunni extremist group that emerged during the Iraq War and later seized large parts of Iraq and Syria.<\/p>\n At the height of its power in 2014, the group of more than 65,000 fighters<\/a> declared a so-called “caliphate” \u2014 an Islamist state governed by its radical interpretation of Islamic law.<\/p>\n It imposed brutal rule over millions of people through mass killings, torture, sexual slavery and public executions, while also inspiring or directing terrorist attacks around the world.<\/p>\n ISIS-linked families land in Australia<\/a><\/p>\n A group of Australian women and children with links to former ISIS fighters have begun arriving in Australia, nearly two weeks after leaving a refugee camp in Syria.<\/p>\n IS grew out of Al Qaeda’s branch in Iraq but became even more extreme, aiming to build a global Islamist state.<\/p>\n Australia first listed the group as a terrorist organisation<\/a> in 2005 under its former Arabic name, before re-listing it under its current name in 2007.<\/p>\n More than 200 Australian men, women and children travelled to Syria and Iraq to join IS between 2012 and 2019, according to the Department of Home Affairs<\/a>.<\/p>\n The department said<\/a> dozens more Australians had assisted IS by helping fighters overseas or by planning or carrying out terrorist attacks in Australia.<\/p>\n Although IS lost the last of its territory in 2019 after a years-long military campaign led by the United States and its allies, the group remains active.<\/p>\n An estimated 14,000 to 18,000 fighters<\/a> are still living in Syria and Iraq, while some of its most active branches<\/a> are now based in Africa.<\/p>\n How did Australian women get involved with IS?<\/p>\n Some Australian women travelled to Syria and Iraq with husbands and partners who supported IS.<\/p>\n Others travelled with family members and later married IS fighters after arriving in the region.<\/p>\n In the years since 2019, some of the women have told media, including the ABC,<\/a> that they got stuck in Syria by accident or were coerced into going.<\/p>\n What do we know about the women who returned?<\/p>\n A group of four women and nine children linked to IS fighters landed in Sydney and Melbourne last night.<\/p>\n The women are 53-year-old grandmother Kawsar Abbas, her daughters Zahra Ahmed, 33, and Zeinab Ahmed, 31, as well as a former health science student, Janai Safar, 32.<\/p>\n Australian families with links to former ISIS fighters left Al Roj camp in April. (ABC News: Baderkhan Ahmad)<\/p>\n Ms Abbas is the wife of Mohammad Ahmad, who previously told the ABC<\/a> the family travelled to Syria in 2014 for their son’s wedding and became trapped there as the conflict escalated. He said he never supported IS.<\/p>\n Zahra Ahmed is the widow of Muhammad Zahab, a Melbourne recruiter who died in an air strike in 2018. A 2019 investigation by Four Corners found many Australians who travelled to join IS were linked to Zahab.<\/p>\n A group boarded a connecting flight from Doha. (ABC News: Hamish Harty)<\/p>\n As some of the women were boarding their connecting flight in Doha, they told the ABC<\/a> they were relieved to be returning to Australia.<\/p>\n “We just want our children to be safe. It was like hell [in Syria] for them,” one woman said.<\/p>\n They said many of their children, who were born in Syria, had never visited Australia and it was “like paradise” to them.<\/p>\n All the women and children are Australian citizens and hold Australian passports.<\/p>\n Where were they living?<\/p>\n The women and children have been living in detention camps in north-eastern Syria since the collapse of IS territory in 2019.<\/p>\n The 13 recent arrivals were part of a broader group of 34 Australian women and children who tried to leave the Al Roj camp in February, only to be turned back shortly after leaving.<\/p>\n Many foreign women and children linked to IS have spent years in overcrowded camps such as Al Hawl and Al Roj.<\/p>\n Humanitarian groups have warned of deteriorating security<\/a>, limited medical care and the risk of radicalisation<\/a> at these camps.<\/p>\n The women and children who arrived last night left the Al Roj camp in April.<\/p>\n The ABC understands<\/a> that they were based in Syria’s capital, Damascus, before booking their flights home this week.<\/p>\n Who was arrested?<\/p>\n The two women arrested in Melbourne<\/a> are believed to be Kawsar Abbas and Zeinab Ahmed.<\/p>\n They have both been charged with crimes against humanity, including enslavement, and Kawsar Abbas is also accused of slave trading.<\/p>\n The AFP said it would be alleged that the 53-year-old woman travelled to Syria in 2014 with her husband and children, and was complicit in the purchase of a female slave for $US10,000 ($14,000) and knowingly kept the woman in the home.<\/p>\n The 53-year-old woman has been charged with four crimes against humanity and the 31-year-old woman with two.<\/p>\n Each offence carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.<\/p>\n The woman arrested by the NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team in Sydney<\/a> is believed to be Janai Safar and is expected to face Downing Centre Local Court today.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778217151_629_203d71fe7b19ddf64e3c1a75eb86a496.jpeg\")
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