London, Feb 23 (IANS): British police officers are in Turkey as the search continues for three school girls believed to be heading to Syria to join the Islamic State (IS) terror group, a media report said Monday.

Shamima Begum, Amira Abase, both 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16, flew to Turkey last Tuesday and their families have made appeals to them to come home, BBC reported.

They were all studying at Bethnal Green Academy in London.

Scotland Yard would not confirm what its officers' role in Turkey was.

"Officers are working closely with the Turkish authorities who are providing a great deal of assistance and support to our investigation," a Scotland Yard official said.

Security services have been criticised after it emerged that -- before leaving Britain -- Shamima sent a Twitter message to Aqsa Mahmood, who left Glasgow for Syria in 2013 to marry an IS fighter.

According to a lawyer for Mahmood's family, her Twitter account has been "monitored" by police since she left Britain. He said authorities should have seen Shamima's message and taken action before she and her two friends followed.