A Finnish minister has apologised for an Instagram post which asked readers whether children should be repatriated with their mothers from a Syrian camp housing Islamic State-linked people.

Axar.az reports citing foreign media.

Newly appointed Finance Minister Katri Kulmuni tweeted "I apologise for the poll". And she has now deleted it.

The poll, which asked people to vote either "children only" or "children and mothers", drew much criticism.

About 10 women and 30 children at the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp are Finnish.

Several Western governments have already repatriated some children from al-Hol and other camps in northern Syria holding foreigners linked to IS. Generally they are the families of IS jihadists killed, wounded or missing in the civil war.

Ms Kulmuni, 32, said: "I wanted to discuss this complex and difficult issue on social media. It failed and I apologise for it."