An Australian extremist doing aid work in Syria has been killed, rebel groups in the region have claimed.
Abdul Salam Mahmoud travelled to the coast city of Latakia in 2014, telling SBS he was “doing humanitarian aid”. Photographs he posted online showed him distributing food and lollies to children, and he claimed to have been working to establish a school in the city.
Social media posts suggest he was killed in Arafit, in the west of Latakia province, near the Syrian mountain town of Salma where rebel groups are known to be clashing with Syrian regime forces. It is not clear whether he had taken up arms.
Brothers and Sisters our brother #AbuHamzaAlAustrali inshaAllah a shaheed make dua for him and his family #AbdulSalam pic.twitter.com/MiQFMYIhcL
— ابو مصعب الصومالي (@somal_musab) March 10, 2015
Canadian analyst Jeff Weyers said there were seven or eight rebel groups, including the al-Qaida-linked Jabhat al-Nusra, involved in fighting in the area.
Mahmoud, who was born in Sudan, was careful not to claim allegiance to any group involved in the four-year civil war. “I support the Syrian people. I support the kids and the women who have been harmed by this war and I support the people who want to establish justice in the land,” he said last year.
He was close to Mohammad Ali Baryalei, the Australian Islamic State (Isis) recruiter reportedly killed last October, who has been implicated in an alleged plot to kidnap and kill a random civilian in Sydney.
May Allah except his jihad and his istish-haad the Martyr Abu Hamza Alsudani may Allah give his family patience pic.twitter.com/OFtOkDN7DG
— ابو مصعب الصومالي (@somal_musab) March 10, 2015
Mahmoud expressed support for the Charlie Hebdo killings and the Martin Place gunman Man Haron Monis, and had argued that Australians wishing to fight with Isis were fulfilling their duty as Muslims.
Both men were members of the proselytising group Street Dawah, along with another Australia, Mohamed Zuhbi, who worked with Mahmoud on aid projects.
Two other members of Street Dawah – Zakariah Raad and Yusuf Ali – have already died in the conflict.
A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman said the government was unable to confirm Mahmoud’s death.
“Australians who become involved in overseas conflicts are putting their own lives in mortal danger. Any Australians fighting with non-state militia in Syria or Iraq should end their involvement in the conflict now and leave the conflict zone,” she said.
