A young Saudi who tried to enter Syria to fight alongside Islamic State (IS) fighters approached the Saudi Embassy in Turkey to return home after several failed attempts to infiltrate the Turkish borders.

The 16-year-old had first tried to get through Turkey’s southern borders, only to fail and try again from the northern borders. Around 24 hours later, he gave up and called his family, who urged him to come back home.

“We were surprised to see how young he was,” said Adel Mirdad, Saudi ambassador to Turkey.

“He then told us his story and how he got lost on the border.”

“It appeared that the boy was misled. We sent him back home after completing technical procedures,” the ambassador said.

The story of this teen is a startling reminder to authorities that youth are still being lured into joining wars in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

The latest among the Saudi fighters to die is Salman Al-Suwaid, who was killed in an anti-IS raid in Aleppo, Syria.