OUTSIDE BAGHOUZ, Syria: The newborn son of UK-born teenager Shamima Begum who left her London home to join the Daesh group in Syria died Friday in a refugee camp, an official said.
Mustafa Bali, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces, confirmed that the infant died at a camp in north Syria. He didn鈥檛 provide further details.
In a day of conflicting reports about the baby鈥檚 fate, lawyer Tasnime Akunjee tweeted that he had 鈥渟trong but as yet unconfirmed reports that Shamima Begum鈥檚 son has died. He was a British citizen.鈥� He declined to provide further details.
Then, Bali tweeted that the reports were 鈥渇ake鈥� and the baby 鈥渋s alive and healthy.鈥� But he later deleted the tweet without explanation, and shortly after confirmed the baby鈥檚 death.
The British government couldn鈥檛 confirm the reports.
Begum was 15 when she and two friends left London to marry Daesh fighters in Syria in 2015, at a time when the group鈥檚 online recruitment program lured many impressionable young people to its self-proclaimed caliphate.
Begum recently resurfaced in a refugee camp, and gave birth last month.
Begum, now 19, told journalists that she wanted to raise her son in Britain, but the government revoked her citizenship. Begum told reporters that she had lost two other children to malnutrition and disease.
Her Dutch militant husband Yago Riedijk, who is in a Kurdish-run detention center, said last week that he wanted to return to the Netherlands with Begum and their son.
British Home Secretary Sajid Javid said last month he had revoked Begum鈥檚 citizenship 鈥� even while saying he wouldn鈥檛 make a decision that would render a person stateless. Javid also confirmed that Begum鈥檚 son was a British citizen, though he said it would be 鈥渋ncredibly difficult鈥� to facilitate the return of a child from Syria.
Begum鈥檚 parents are from Bangladesh but her family says she isn鈥檛 a dual citizen. The family has said it plans to challenge Javid鈥檚 decision.