Australia's most-senior Isis recruiter 'killed in Iraq air strike'
Neil Prakash has appeared in Isis videos and magazines and is understood to be a top recruiter for the terror group
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Your support makes all the difference.An Australian man, understood to be a top recruiter for Isis and linked to a string of failed terror attacks in Australia, has been killed in an air strike in Iraq, Australian officials have said.
Neil Prakash, who appeared in Isis videos and magazines and had been linked to calls for lone-wolf attacks against the United States, was killed in a targeted air strike in Mosul on 29 April, said Attorney-General George Brandis, citing US intelligence advice.
Prakash was considered the most-senior Australian militant fighting with the group and actively recruited Australian men, women and children, encouraging acts of terrorism, Mr Brandis said.
The 24-year-old, also known as Abu Khaled al-Cambodi, was an Australian citizen of Cambodian and Fijian heritage. A former rapper from Melbourne city, he converted from Buddhism in 2012 and is believed to have relocated to Syria in 2014.
He joined two other Australian fighters, Mohamed Elomar and Khaled Sharrouf, on a UN sanctions list. Both Elomar and Sharrouf appeared in images last year holding the severed heads of Syrian soldiers.
Last year, Australia announced final sanctions against Prakash, including a warning that anyone found to be aiding him financially could face jail time of up to 10 years.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told Sky News: "Neil Prakash's death is a very, very positive development in the war […] against terror.”
“He has been a leading recruiter for Daesh by encouraging people to go and fight with them in Syria and Iraq and of course he has promoted terrorist attacks.”
Mr Brandis said the US government also advised that a second Australian citizen, Shadi Jabar, was killed on 22 April in a US air strike near Al Bab, Syria.
The woman was the cousin of Farhad Jabr – the 15-year-old boy who shot dead police accountant, Curtis Cheng, in Sydney last year.
Australia has formally declared Isis a terrorist organisation, meaning dual citizens could have their Australian citizenship revoked if found to be a member of the terror group.
Isis is the first organisation to be formally labelled a terror group under Australia’s new Allegiance to Australia Act. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said Isis was, “both engaging in acts of terrorism and is opposed to Australia and its interests.”
Additional reporting by agencies
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