A Brit mum who served time in prison after travelling to Syria to join ISIS has reinvented herself as fashion influencer.
Tareena Shakil made her way to the war-torn country in 2014 to sign up with the terrorist organisation - while urging her Twitter followers to do the same. However, after returning to the the UK in 2015, she became the first British woman to be prosecuted for joining the militant group and was jailed for six years, the Mirror reports.
Now, Tareena has transformed herself into a fashion guru after being inspired by her favourite TV show, The Only Way Is Essex. Posting as “That girl Tam Tam”, she has gained hundreds of followers on Instagram with her glamorous snaps, featuring the hashtags “fashion blogger”, “street style” and “style inspo”.
Describing her account as a place for “style” and “motivation”, her posts include tags for Bershka and Versace in an apparent bid to land a deal with the big-name clothing brands. The former health-care worker also now seemingly enjoys a jet-set lifestyle, with selfies in popular travel destinations such as Milan, Barcelona and Morocco.
The caption on one pouting snap reads: “She a bad b****, she ain’t average.”
While another says: “How you so elegant and so gang, gang, gang?”
Tareena was 26 when she decided to leave Birmingham for Syria. Upon her arrival, she was placed in a house with other women waiting to be married off to terrorists.
However, after growing unhappy, she fled to Turkey and returned to the UK. Following her arrest, she initially told police that she had been kidnapped.
Tarreena was later sentenced to four years in prison at Birmingham Crown Court for ISIS membership and two years for encouraging acts of terror. She was released from jail in 2019 and has described her de-radicalisation as “a long journey”.
She said: “I’ve learned from my mistakes and have served my punishment.
“I don’t seek to be an influencer or blogger, I seek to show people you can make it through hard times even when it may seem impossible.”
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