THE daughter of a British aid worker who was murdered by Daesh terrorists has travelled to Syria to find answers over her father’s death.
David Haines was captured by extremists in 2013 while working for an international relief agency in Syria.
The 44-year-old, from Holderness, East Yorkshire, had family links to Perth. He was beheaded in 2014 after being held by a four-man terrorist cell dubbed “The Beatles”, whose members included Mohammed Emwazi – also known as Jihadi John.
Five years on from Haines’ death, which was posted online and turned into Daesh propaganda, his daughter Bethany has travelled to one of the locations where her father is believed to have been killed.
Speaking about the moment she watched her father’s execution video, Haines’ daughter told ITV News: “I thought I would be really upset, but it was just numbness. I think it was shock. So, for a while I didn’t feel anything. And then a few hours later the grief kind of started to strike for me. It’s getting closure.
“I’ve researched and been a part of this for around six years now and I need to come to terms with that and close that off and move on.”
Accompanied by ITV’s security editor Rohit Kachroo, Haines’
daughter also went to the site where Emwazi was killed in a US air strike in 2015.
She said she was “ecstatic” when she heard Emwazi had died, adding: “I had a party and now, actually being here and seeing it makes it more real. It does bring that sense of relief, that he is now finished with.”
Emwazi came to notoriety in a video in August 2014 which showed the beheading of US journalist James Foley. He also appeared in videos showing the killing of Haines.
During her trip to Syria, Haines’ daughter witnessed mass graves being exhumed and met several “Daesh brides” in northern Syria.
She said she “won’t stop trying” to find her father’s remains, adding: “There’s always that hope and that hope will never fade no matter if it’s six years, 20 years, 30 years.”
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