Australian Jihadi bride dies in Syria

Khaled Sharrouf

Australian school girl Tara Nettleton made the worst decision of her life when she converted to Islam and married Muslim terrorist Khaled Sharrouf when she was 15.  She had five children in quick succession and now at age 31, she's dead.

Sharrouf snuck out of Australia on his brother's passport and went to fight in Syria, leaving his wife and children in Sydney. Tara wanted to join him but knew it would be difficult as authorities were watching the airports and known jihadists trying to leave for Syria.

Karen Nettleton

But Tara had an ally, her mother, Karen Nettleton.  She successfully smuggled her three young grandsons and two teenager granddaughters out of Australia to Syria via Malaysia.  She made the move possible, before heading home.

Tara with her mother Karen

Not long after, Sharrouf was making Australian headlines. He posted a picture of his small son holding the severed head of a Syrian officer with the caption 'that's my boy.'

Last year Sharrouf died in a drone strike and yesterday we learn that his wife, Tara Nettleton also died from complications after an operation for appendicitis last year.   This leaves their five children and a newborn to fend for themselves In Raqqa.  Tara was 31 years old.

Tara's 14 year old daughter Zaynab was married to Sydney boxer-turned IS fighter Mohammad Elomar and gave birth to a baby girl last year.  He was killed in a drone strike last June, along with his friend Sharrouf.

Now Zaynab is stranded in Syria, head of the family, and responsible for raising her two month old baby and four young siblings.

Meanwhile, back in Sydney, Karen Nettleton has hired a lawyer, Charles Waterstreet, to bring the children home.

"I request the Australian government to do everything they possibly can to get those children away from danger, get them out, and bring them home" he said.

Immigration minister Peter Dutton said the government would have to consider under what circumstances it could bring them back.

"Ultimately, the government's clear objective is to keep the Australian public safe and we'd have to look at the individual circumstances to see what kids may have been through, what they've been exposed to and whether or not, later in life, they would pose a possible threat" he said.