A German teen who was found in Mosul after running away from home following her conversion to Islam a year ago says she regrets her decision and just wants “to go home to my family,” German media reported.
German broadcasters NDR and WDR and the newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung on July 23 said they had interviewed the girl, identified only as Linda W., at a military complex in Baghdad.
Iraqi officials said the girl was arrested after she was found hiding in a tunnel or basement amid the rubble in Mosul after Islamic State (IS) extremists had been driven from the city.
The officials said the girl had been working with the extremists’ police force in Mosul.
"I just want to get away from here," she was quoted by the German media as saying. "I want to get away from the war, from the many weapons, from the noise."
"I just want to go home to my family," she added.
The German media outlets reported the girl said she regretted joining IS, wanted to be extradited to Germany, and would cooperate with authorities.
They said she had a gunshot wound in her thigh and an injury on her knee that she said occurred during a helicopter attack.
Officials said the girl flew from Frankfurt to Turkey a year ago with the desire of reaching either Iraq or Syria and that she had married an IS fighter while in Mosul.
