A mother of four who is feared to have taken her children to Syria may have gone to join radical family members, it has been revealed.

Zahera Tariq, 33, was reported missing from her Walthamstow home with her three sons, aged four, 11 and 12, and her nine-year-old daughter, last week.

Her husband Yasair Mahmmood raised the alarm after she went missing on Tuesday.

Now, a full scale hunt has been launched to try to stop the family crossing into Syria, where it is feared they are heading.

It is believed Mrs Tariq may have been assisted with her journey by her sister Aisha, 30, who is already in the country.

Aisha is the wife of high ranking IS man Siddhartha Dhar, a former disciple and aide to Anjem Choudary.

Dhar, also from Walthamstow, was among nine men arrested and questioned by police last year on suspicion of terrorism offences.

After skipping bail to join ISIS he used his Twitter account to taunt the “shoddy” British security services, saying he was able to “breeze through Europe”.

Dhar, also known as Abu Rumaysah al Britain uses social media to paint a glowing picture of life under Islamic State rule.

He and his family are rumoured to be in the IS stronghold of Raqqa.

Police released CCTV images of Zahera at London City airport where they flew to Amsterdam.

Each of her children – Muhammad, 12, Amaar, 11, Safiyyah, nine, and Aadid, four – carried a rucksack.

Zahera is believed to have continued her journey from Holland but could have taken several routes and used various methods of transport.

Police in several countries are examining passenger manifests, CCTV footage, banking records and mobile phone data.

Officers say they have “some concerns that Zahera may be thinking of travelling to Syria”, though there is no evidence she has arrived.

Khalil Muhammadi, who lived opposite the family for a decade, said: “The three boys and the girl were very chatty, very nice, smiley faces. It’s shocking news.”

Neighbour Luc Nonga, 25, said: “They’re a really quiet family, especially the mother.

“She’s very traditional, the family are clearly deeply religious. The children wear traditional clothes to the mosque.

“I never expected anything like this to happen – I had no idea. I saw them all playing in the garden just a few weeks ago – they’re very happy children and seemed a normal family.”