THE FAMILIES OF the London school girls who fled to Syria to allegedly become brides of the Islamic State group fighters have heavily criticised the Metropolitan Police.

Sky News reports that a letter from the police requesting an interview with the girls about a classmate who went to Syria last year was not handed to the parents directly.

The letters were given to the girls, which they hid in their textbooks. The parents said they never saw the letters.

Teenagers 

The BBC said the parents of the three teenagers believe they could have intervened sooner had they been made aware sooner.

It’s reported that police officers spoke to girls at the beginning of last month and gave them the letters to take home to their parents.

The letters sought permission to conduct counter-terrorism detectives to take handwritten statements about their friend’s lifestyle and beliefs.

The girls disappeared three weeks later, having never shown the letters to their parents.

CCTV recently showed the girls in Turkey on their way to Syria.

Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 17, and Amira Abase, also 17 left their London homes on 17 February and boarded a flight from London to Istanbul.

The families of the three schoolgirls have been appealing for them to come home.

Read: London schoolgirls fleeing to Islamic State militants have crossed into Syria>

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