EAST Lancashire schools are urging young Muslims to ‘walk away’ from radicalisation.

Community leaders have spoken out after three London teenagers – Shamima Begum, Amira Abase, and Kadiza Sultana – fled to Turkey, where they are believed to have headed in order to join Islamic State terrorists in Syria.

Mosques, schools and police said programmes were in place to combat extremism in the county.

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Suleman Khonat, a governor at Tauheedul’s Olive Primary School, in Blackburn, said his school’s message to pupils regarding extremism was clear: “Walk away.”

He said: “Our message is simple – don’t put yourself at risk. Talk to your parents, talk to police, don’t get involved. The consequences could be criminal.”

Former Blackburn mayor, Cllr Salim Mulla, who sits on the Lancashire Council of Mosques, said the organisation discussed the case of the London girls at a meeting on Sunday.

He said: “We send regular messages out across the Muslim community telling people not to get involved in radicalisation, to stay away from ISIS and to promote peace.

“Imams are told to preach on this issue before Friday prayers.”

Colin Wills, secretary of inter-faith group Building Bridges Burnley, said that, while his group had no specific projects addressing radicalisation, he was encouraged by the work of local mosques.

He said: “I went to a mosque at the end of Ramadhan last year and I kept hearing the message reinforced that Muslims mustn’t get involved with anything like ISIS.”

Rawtenstall’s Alder Grange Community and Technology School has been held up as an example of good practice when it comes to helping build resilience to extremism among young people.

Lancashire police said they continued to use a strategy, including resource packs distributed to primary schools, to reduce the likelihood of young people being radicalised.

Insp Andrea Bradbury of Lancashire police’s Counter Terrorism Branch said: “Young people can be exposed to a wide range of vulnerabilities such as drugs or child sexual exploitation and the risk of radicalisation is another factor we ask our partners to consider as they go about their daily work.

“The current risk for people travelling overseas to Syria is widely publicised in the media and is something we discuss and share safeguarding information around.”