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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Doug Bolton

Child in Isis video is 'son of female British fanatic' with links to Lee Rigby killers

A small child who appears in the latest Isis propaganda video was born in the UK and is the son of a notorious British jihadi, the boy's grandfather has reportedly said.

Henry Dare, the father of Khadijah Dare, a woman who left the UK to join Isis in 2012, named the boy as Isa Dare and said he is worried to see the child in the footage.

Mr Dare told the Telegraph: "I was surprised when I saw the picture. It's definitely him. Of course I'm worried but there's nothing I can do now." 

"I'm not angry - I would never have expected it. I just hope someone is trying to bring them back," he said.

Khadijah Dare, previously known as Grace Dare, grew up in Lewisham, London, in a Christian family of Nigerian descent.

She is believed to have been radicalised online, and travelled to Syria in 2012 to marry a Swedish fighter named Abu Bakr, who is now believed to be dead.

Khadijah Dare (left) pictured with her husband Abu Bakr

Dare has links with Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, the men who murdered soldier Lee Rigby in Woolwich in 2013. After converting to Islam, Dare began attending the Lewisham Islamic Centre, where the men allegedly prayed. The Islamic Centre has denied they were ever members of the congregation.

Footage from a 2013 Channel 4 documentary shows Khadijah in Syria firing weapons and playing with her son, and she has previously said on social media that she wanted to be the first British woman in Isis to kill a western hostage.

The propaganda video in which the boy appears shows a masked man speaking in a British accent murdering five men, who he claims are 'British spies.'

Addressing "the people of Britain", the militant says Isis will "one day invade your land, where we will rule by the Shariah".

The video ends with a young child, reportedly Isa Dare, dressed in military uniform, telling the audience in a British accent: "We will kill the kuffar over there."

Middle East analysts have reported a sharp increase in the number of propaganda videos released by Isis since its loss of the Iraqi city of Ramadi.

The flurry of activity has been seen as an attempt to distract from recent defeats, with David Cameron branding the new video "desperate stuff" from a group which is "losing territory."

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