Tareena Shakil, once a convicted terrorist who fled Britain with her toddler son to join ISIS in war-torn Syria, has undergone a startling transformation. Back in 2014, Shakil infamously shared chilling images on Facebook: her young son in an Islamic State-branded balaclava, and herself posing with an AK-47 and a handgun beside the group’s flag. Her aim, authorities said, was to groom her child to one day commit acts of terror.
But today, Shakil has reinvented herself entirely. Following her six-year prison sentence, she has embraced a life as a social media influencer, trading jihadi imagery for luxury trips, fashion, and lifestyle content. Her Instagram and TikTok accounts—where she goes by ‘thatgirl.tamtam’—showcase glamorous outfits, exotic holidays, and adventurous activities such as horse riding on beaches and zip-lining through rainforests. Her TikTok alone boasts nearly 50,000 followers and over five million likes, featuring short videos offering dating advice and tips on building confidence under the banner: “You’re safe here girls.” On YouTube, she shares longer videos focused on positivity and self-improvement, often reflecting on resilience and personal growth after enduring “horrific moments” in her past.
Shakil has openly credited her struggles with shaping the confident, self-reliant woman she is today. “Fiery women like myself… we’re not born like this,” she said. “I am like this because of a lot of trauma that has happened in my life. I am insanely confident.” Her advice emphasizes self-reliance, strength, and navigating life’s challenges without compromise.
Born to a British mother and Pakistani father, Shakil grew up in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, with two younger brothers and a sister. By all accounts, her early life was a conventional western upbringing: she danced to Spice Girls songs, watched reality TV, held a Saturday job at Morrisons, excelled academically, and became a school prefect. She won a place at Birmingham University to study psychology but dropped out, later using her student loan to fund her journey to Syria.
During her time in Syria, Shakil lived in Raqqa, waiting to marry a foreign fighter, where she embraced ISIS ideology, messaging friends about her “responsibility” as a Muslim to target “apostates.” But life under the so-called caliphate proved brutal. She witnessed violence against women in her house, lived under constant bombardment, and soon sought an escape. After taking a daring unauthorized taxi to the Turkish border, she returned to the UK and was arrested at Heathrow in February 2015.
In February 2016, she became the first British woman convicted for terror offences after joining ISIS and involving her child. The judge highlighted her role in posing her son with a balaclava and firearms as particularly abhorrent, noting that she had shown no remorse. Yet her mother, Mandy, has expressed that Shakil was “naive and gullible” rather than inherently malicious, describing her as a bright, cheerful girl whose search for happiness led her down a dangerous path.
After her release in 2018, following half her sentence, Shakil faced further family turmoil: her father and brother were jailed the same year for running a county lines drug operation. Since then, she has publicly expressed regret, describing a long journey of de-radicalization. “I regret every last thing in terms of my decision to run away to Syria with my child. I live with those consequences every day,” she said. Today, she projects a dramatically different image—jet-setting across Europe and Asia, building a following online, and sharing messages of resilience and empowerment, far removed from the extremist life she once embraced
