Tri-Service

Teenager "Becomes Britain's Youngest Suicide Bomber"

The government’s anti-radicalisation strategy is facing scrutiny after a British teenager reportedly blew himself up in Iraq.

17-year-old Talha Asmal, from Dewsbury, is believed to be one of four IS suicide bombers who attacked Iraqi forces near an oil refinery to the North of Tikrit.

It would make him Britain’s youngest-ever suicide bomber. See below for Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond's reaction to this latest IS suicide attack.

His family, meanwhile, said they have been left "utterly devastated and heartbroken by the unspeakable tragedy" of his death.

Asmal, who reportedly detonated a vehicle fitted with explosives while fighting for IS, has been described as "a loving, kind, caring and affable teenager", who never harboured any ill will against anybody.

But in a statement, his family said those who sent him to his death had preyed on his "innocence and vulnerability".

The teenager allegedly fled his home in March to join IS along with his friend Hassan Munshi, who was also 17.

Forces TV, meanwhile, spoke to the Quilliam Foundation - the world's first counter-extremism think-tank, which was set up to address the unique challenges of citizenship, identity, and belonging in a globalised world.

Kate Gerbeau asked one of its researchers, Nikita Malik, what can cause a seemingly normal British teenager to become a suicide bomber.