A 16-year-old girl from Germany who joined the Islamic State at age 15 was recently found in a military hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, where she told German reporters that she wants to go home to her family, according to CBS.
The girl, who is referred to by most news organizations as Linda W., had been communicating online with ISIS members before fleeing to Turkey to join the terrorist group last summer. Even more chilling is the fact that after Linda left to join the Islamic State, her mom found a copy of Linda's plane ticket to Turkey under her bed, reports CBS.
Linda isn't the only female who's joined the Islamic State. CBS reports that Iraqi forces also found three other German women along with Linda W. ISIS recruits people all over the world, including Americans; according the New York Post, some 45 American women have reportedly joined or tried to join the Islamic State—and in May, two Mississippi college students tried to join ISIS but were caught by the FBI.
According to The Washington Post, Linda W. is recovering from a bullet wound at a hospital in Baghdad, and in an interview with reporters from a German network, ARD, and a newspaper, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, she said she wanted to go home. Linda W. told reporters that she was captured by Iraqi soldiers while hiding in a basement in the city Mosul, which was recently liberated by Iraqi forces. She told reporters, "I just want to go home to my family. I just want to get away from here. I want to get away from the war, from the many weapons, from the noise."
Will Linda W. return home to Germany? According to Iraqi law, she could face the death penalty for being a part of ISIS, but since she is only 16, she would be on death row until age 22, according to CBS. However, German prosecutor Lorenz Haase said that since Linda W. is technically a "missing minor" in Germany, she could return to her home country—but only time will tell what will happen to the 16-year-old.
