CANBERRA, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has ruled out risking Australian lives to bring the children of Islamic State (IS) fighters stranded in Syria back to Australia.
Responding to reports that three children of Khaled Sharrouf, an Australian who left the country in 2013 to fight for IS in Syria, have been found stranded in a Syrian refugee camp, Morrison said that any operation to return the children to the family in Australia would be too risky.
"I'm not going to put one Australian life at risk to try and extract people from these dangerous situations," he told reporters on Monday.
"I think it's appalling that Australians have gone and fought against our values and our way of life and peace-loving countries of the world in joining the Daesh fight.
"I think it's even more despicable that they put their children in the middle of it."
Sharrouf's wife, Tara Nettleton, joined her husband in Syria with their five children in 2014. She died of medical complications in 2015.
Of their children, only three, 17-year-old Zaynab, 16-year-old Hoda and eight-year-old Humzeh, have survived.
Their grandmother Karen Nettleton told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that she was particularly concerned for Zaynab's wellbeing.
"Zaynab is seven-and-a half months pregnant; she's feeling very fatigued," she said.
