British schoolgirl who joined IS killed in Syria airstrike

A British schoolgirl who ran away to join the Islamic State group has been killed in an airstrike in Syria, according to her family.

Kadiza Sultana, 17, is thought to have died in a Russian airstrike on the IS stronghold city of Raqqa in May, the UK's ITV News reported.

The teenager had left her home in London in February 2015 with friends Shamima Begum and Amira Abase, both 15 at the time, travelling through Turkey to join the terrorist group in northeastern Syria.

Sultana is thought to have married a Somali-American jihadist who was killed in battle.

She had become disillusioned with life in the IS-held city and had been planning to make her way back across the border into Turkey and eventually to Britain, ITV News said citing conversations with her family.

"It is believed she was killed before she could flee, after the property she was staying in was obliterated by the airstrike in May," the channel said in a statement.

"The family are devastated. A number of sources have said that she has been killed and she has not been in contact with the family for several weeks. Over a year ago, she had been talking about leaving. There was a plan to get her out" Tasnime Akunjee, the teenager's family lawyer said on Thursday.

"There are many examples of people who have gone out there, seen the lay of the land for what it is and discovered that it is far from what the ISIS propaganda tells them it will be and then they want to come back," Akunjee said using an acronym for IS.

"Leaving ISIS is like trying to escape from Alcatraz, with a shoot to kill order added in. It's devastating for the family that it ended like this," he added.

The fate of the two other girls remains unknown, however they were feared dead earlier this year after their families lost contact with them.