Ex-U.K. model recounts her near-brush with IS

‘I was groomed to become white widow’

Kimberley Miners.

Former U.K. model Kimberley Miners has claimed that she was groomed by a Pakistani-origin Islamic State (IS) recruiter to become the next “white widow” in Syria. Ms. Miners told The Sun that she was brainwashed by Naweed Hussain, a Briton who joined the IS in June 2015 and was killed last year, on Facebook.

“I was totally taken in. I was groomed and I fell for it. I was a propaganda trophy to be won. I dread to think what would have happened,” she said.

Arrested, released

The Western girls who travelled to Iraq and Syria to marry IS terrorists are called ‘white widows’.

Ms. Miners was arrested after counterterrorism police intercepted messages from Hussain asking her to come to Syria. She was released with no further action in March last year.

“It’s embarrassing now but I liked the attention. People have no idea, but IS is actively searching Facebook for vulnerable people. People just like me,” she said.