British officials estimate that at least 600 people from the UK have gone to Syria and Iraq to fight for Islamic State (ISIS) and other radical jihadist groups – but just who are these Muslims who left the comfort of the West for the war-torn battlefields of the Middle East?

The BBC on Wednesday released the findings of a three-month investigative research project undertaken by its news team to unearth the background of the UK jihadists, compiling a database of the information that is currently known and has been made public.

A full 30 jihadists currently in Syria and Iraq were identified by the British media giant, which gave a quick biography of each one.

One of the examples given was Yusra Hussien, who left her hometown of Bristol at the tender age of 15 along with 17-year-old Samya Dirie. Friends of Hussien told BBC that she got married to a jihadist soon after reaching Syria, although there has been no official confirmation.

Junaid Hussain likewise made it to Syria back in 2013, fleeing the UK while on bail for an investigation of violent disorder charges. The 20-year-old computer hacker from Birmingham had been convicted for breaching former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s address book.

He has been part of the large jihadist online campaign recruiting new terrorists to join the cause, and also is likely taking part in the rampant cyber warfare.

Another category researched by the news team were UK jihadists who died in the fighting. According to UK security officials a full 50 people have died, although the British news company was only able to identify 36, with information on others still not being publicly accessible.

Kabir Ahmed was among the dead jihadists. A 32-year-old from Derby who died fighting for ISIS last November, he was reportedly killed while conducting a suicide attack with a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) on Iraqi troops in Baiji.

Before making it to Iraq, Ahmed had been convicted in the UK for passing out leaflets urging the execution of homosexuals in early 2012, and had previously said on a BBC TV show that he was on a “waiting list” to be a suicide bomber.

And then there were the accessories to jihad, those convicted of trying to travel to the region to take part in the fighting or aiding the jihadists. The news channel identified 13 such persons in the UK.

Among them was Hana Gul Khan, who was convicted about a month ago for funding terrorism. The 22-year-old had sent money to her boyfriend, Jafar Turay, who was taking part in Syrian jihad, and she is to be sentenced later this month.

The rising trend of jihadist Islamism in the UK has raised many concerns, prime among them the prospect of experienced terrorists returning from the conflict zone to conduct attacks in Britain. Those fears were raised further by recent lethal terror attacks in Paris and Copenhagen.