Tomasa Pérez Molleja
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Tomasa Pérez Molleja (1976–2019) was a Spanish woman who traveled to Syria to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in 2014, taking her children with her. In 2022, her death was confirmed; she had died in Baghuz, where ISIL had their territorial last stand, in 2019.[1] Three of her six Spanish-born children were also killed in Syria; three others survived and are in a detention camp.[2]
Tomasa Pérez Molleja | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1976 Malaga, Spain |
| Died | 2019 (aged 42–43) Baghuz, Syria |
| Known for | The last Spanish woman to join ISIL |
| Children | 6 |
Tomasa Pérez Molleja was born in Malaga to a Catholic family. She was raised in Córdoba and got excellent grades in school. At 16 or 17 years of age, she met Abdelah Ahram, a Moroccan a year older than herself.[2][3] She was in her third year of high school and dropped out soon after meeting him, months before she would have taken university entrance exams.[3][4] She converted to Islam, and shortly afterwards she and Ahram married, which gave him Spanish citizenship. She had their first child at age 19, in 1995, and another in 1996. She and Ahram would have six children altogether.[3]
Her mother stated she would accompany Pérez to medical checkups during Pérez's first two pregnancies, and also supported her when she had a miscarriage. But Pérez stopped contacting her parents after the birth of her first two children. They never heard from her again.[3]
After their second child was born, the family moved to Alcolea. Later, they moved to Barcelona. The family's neighbors in the early 2000s said Pérez wore a hijab, and that the family did not socialize, although the children did attend school.[4][5] Ahram worked nights, and Pérez was a stay-at-home mother.[6] In 2003, the family moved to Sweden, but they were denied a residency permit, so moved to Morocco.[3]
Authorities believe Pérez was radicalized by her husband.[1] In 2006, Ahram was arrested with his two brothers for belonging to a terrorist group in Morocco. He was released in 2008, and he and his family went to Ceuta. In 2009, when Ahram went back to Morocco, he was convicted of another terrorism charge; court documents indicate he "encouraged suicide operations and the execution of hostages held by Al-Qaeda". He was sentenced to ten years in prison.[3]