The baby son of runaway Islamic State schoolgirl Shamima Begum has died in northern Syria, it was claimed today.
A paramedic working for the Kurdish Red Crescent at the scene told the BBC the baby, named Jerah, died yesterday after suffering breathing difficulties and a lung infection.
He was taken to a doctor before being transferred to hospital but died at 1.30pm local time that day, the medical worker added.
Jerah, who had 'turned blue and was cold' according to a friend of Begum, was believed to have been 18 days old.
Labour's Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott put the blame for the baby's death at Home Secretary Sajid Javid's door.
She tweeted: 'It is against international law to make someone stateless, and now an innocent child has died as a result of a British woman being stripped of her citizenship. This is callous and inhumane.'
Earlier the family's lawyer, Tasnime Akunjee, tweeted of 'strong but as yet unconfirmed reports' that the three-week-old infant had died, adding: 'He was a British citizen.'
The claim was then disputed by Mustafa Bali, the spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who said the baby was 'alive and healthy' and it was 'fake news'.
He later deleted the post and insiders in Roj camp where she was living confirmed the baby had died after earlier saying he was fine.
Miss Begum, 19, gave birth to Jerah in a refugee camp last month, having lost two children to illness and malnutrition. They too had suffered breathing problems.
The teenager had asked the British government to let her back but Mr Javid made the decision to strip her of her citizenship after she showed no remorse.
His apparent death will reignite the debate over what to do with British jihadis and their wives and whether Britain should have allowed Miss Begum and her child back to the UK.
Speaking to the Mail from her tent last month she broke down into tears as she said: 'This boy is all I have.'
Responding to the claims, Mr Javid told the BBC: 'Obviously I don't know whether that news is true or not but what I will say, sadly there are probably many children, obviously perfectly innocent, who have been born in this war zone.
'I have nothing but sympathy for the children that have been dragged into this. This is a reminder of why it is so, so dangerous for anyone to be in this war zone.'
Miss Begum was 15 when she and two other schoolgirls left the UK to join Islamic State in February 2015.
The teenager resurfaced heavily-pregnant in a camp in northern Syria last month and spoke of her desire to return to Britain, as the 'caliphate' collapsed.
She was moved to Roj this month from the Al-Hawl refugee camp after she was threatened by other IS wives for revealing her face during Press interviews.
The east London teenager showed no remorse for joining the terror group, where she married Dutch jihadi Yago Riedijk, 23, who is now in jail.
He had never met his son Jerah, who shares the same name as a 7th century Islamic warlord.
Riedijk, who is in a Kurdish-run detention center, said last week that he wanted to return to the Netherlands with Begum and their son.
The British government could not confirm the reports because it has no one on the ground in the country.
Begum's parents are from Bangladesh but her family says she isn't a dual citizen. The family has said it plans to challenge Javid's decision to strip her of her citizenship.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
