Four German women may face death penalty in Iraq for joining ISIS

Four German women, including a 16-year-old girl, are currently being held in an Iraqi prison and may face the death penalty for joining the Islamic State terror group.

Diplomats who visited the four women in a prison at the airport in Baghdad on Thursday said that they were doing well given the circumstances.

Iraqi authorities have given Germany a list containing the women's names at the beginning of the week, Reuters reported, citing German magazine Der Spiegel. The list identified the 16-year-old girl only as Linda W. from the small town of Pulsnitz near the eastern city of Dresden.

Lorenz Haase, a senior public prosecutor in Dresden, confirmed that the girl had been "located and identified in Iraq" and was receiving consular support but could not say anything on her exact circumstances.

The teenager reportedly stated that she regrets joining ISIS and just wants to come home to her family.

"I just want to get away from here. I want to get away from the war, from the many weapons, from the noise," she was quoted as saying. "I just want to go home to my family," she added.

Media outlets have reported that the teenager had expressed her willingness to be extradited to Germany and cooperate with authorities.

The girl reportedly had a gunshot wound on her left thigh and another injury on her right knee that she said was sustained during a helicopter attack.

Last week, German prosecutors stated that they were checking reports about a 16-year-old, who was under investigation for supporting ISIS and was among five women arrested in the Iraqi city of Mosul, where Iraqi forces declared victory over the terror group earlier this month.

According to Der Spiegel, one of the Germans had Moroccan roots, and another is believed to come from Chechnya but had a German passport.

German authorities have reportedly been investigating a teenage girl who went missing from Pulsnitz last summer for allegedly contacting ISIS about preparing a possible terror attack.

Haase stated on Tuesday that the girl traveled to Turkey about a year ago with an apparent goal of reaching Iraq or Syria. Security officials had lost her trail, but new evidence had since emerged in the case.

The BfV domestic intelligence agency has reported that an estimated 930 people have left Germany to join the terror group in Iraq and Syria. About five percent of the total number are minors, of which half are female, the agency noted.