Canberra, June 29 (IANS): The mother-in-law of Australia's most notorious jihadi, Khaled Sharrouf, said she was denied help by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) to get her daughter and her grand-children out of Syria.

Last week, Sharrouf and his friend and fellow Islamic State (IS) member Mohamed Elomar were believed to have been killed in an air strike targeting an IS convoy, ABC reported on Monday.

Elomar's death has since been verified but Sharrouf's fate remains unclear.

Karen Nettleton, whose daughter Tara is married to Sharrouf, is now asking the government to help get her family back to Australia, saying they are at risk in Syria.

Nettleton said she was in contact with the AFP about an year ago, and they were initially willing to help.

"They said they would look into helping us get Tara and the children out of Syria," Nettleton said.

Early last year, the 31-year-old Tara Nettleton travelled to Syria with her five children, now aged between 4 and 14.

After several months of fruitful conversations, mid last year Nettleton was suddenly told the government was no longer willing to help her, she said.