US offers $5 million reward to locate American siblings taken to Syria by mother to join ISIS

The United States government has announced a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the location and return of two American siblings taken to Syria in 2015, according to Sahara Reporters. Yusuf and Zahra Shikder were taken by their mother to join ISIS without their father’s consent, the State Department’s Rewards for Justice programme said in a notice issued Wednesday.

The children’s circumstances reportedly changed after their mother’s death in 2019, when ISIS figure Khadra Essa, also known as Umm Qaqa al-Somali, allegedly took custody of them. The notice described Essa as an “ISIS key leader and sharia instructor.” Age-progressed photographs were released to aid identification, with the government urging anyone with information to come forward through secure channels for a possible reward and relocation.