A student who was part of a British-Sudanese group of medics who joined Islamic State has been killed in Syria, as an international manhunt intensifies for the alleged ringleader of the group.
Osman Mustafa Fagiri, 23, who is listed on the electoral register at his grandfather’s home in Swiss Cottage, north London, was understood to have been killed fighting forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and had recently been living in Raqqa, Isis’s de facto capital
The student was close friends with a group of nine British-Sudanese medical students – five women and four men – who travelled to Syria in March to work in Isis hospitals, where they are believed to remain.
One of those, Mohammed Osama Badri, 24, wrote on Facebook to confirm Fagiri’s death. He wrote: “May Allah accept our brother Osman Mustafa Fagiri amongst the ranks of Shuhada’a [MARTYRS]. I have known him for more than 5 years. May Allah accept him.”
Fagiri was among a group of jihadists who travelled to Mali, north Africa, in 2013. He travelled back to the UK that year and returned to Britain again for 10 days in 2014 before flying to Khartoum and then moving on to Syria.
Badri said: “After he found out about the forgotten obligation that many people brush under the carpet (Jihad) he tried joining the Mujahideen against the French campaign in Mali.”
The Guardian understands that police recently went to the family’s Swiss Cottage apartment to investigate Fagiri’s activities, although the Metropolitan police refuses to discuss such operational matters.
Fagiri had studied at the University of Medical Sciences and Technology (UMST) in Khartoum and was part of a grouping of at least 18 British-Sudanese students who studied at the Sudanese private medical college and subsequently either joined or attempted to join Isis in Syria.
Friends of the original group of nine have said that more young British medical students remain in Khartoum prepared to follow the route of their predecessors, who flew from Khartoum to Turkey and then travelled overland to Syria.
A Facebook posting from Badri on Monday, the day Fagiri was killed, revealed two pictures of the dead medical student, one in which he appeared to be wearing combat fatigues.
Speaking to the Guardian, Fagiri’s cousin, Mohammad Hamad said his death had come as a “shock” to his extended family as they had little idea he was fighting for Isis.
Describing Fagiri as approachable and “very friendly and polite”, Hamad said Fagiri had also kept his militant intent secret from his parents, only telling them that he wanted to work in Turkey for humanitarian reasons.
Hamad, who lives in London, said Fagiri, who is not a British passport holder, was married earlier this year to a Sudanese woman. Following the wedding, Hamad said, his parents had expected their son to settle down. “That’s where his family thought he’d lead a normal life … [But] he chose to come out of university and said he wanted to work … in Turkey.”
Turkish security services and police, with assistance from British intelligence agencies, are attempting to track down another group of five young British doctors understood to be making their way to the Syrian border.
They are believed to have been recruited by another Briton called Mohammed Fakhri, from Middlesbrough.
Fakhri, 23, has been named repeatedly as the ringleader and recruiter of all the British-Sudanese UMST students and was president of the UMST’s Islamic Cultural Association, a religious teachings group that all the medical students to have joined or attempted to join Isis attended. Facebook postings suggest Fakhri has links to the groups of doctors.
Relatives of the nine claim that Fakhri, who is of Palestinian origin, visited Syria in 2014, which, if true, would make him the first of the British-Sudanese doctors to join Isis. His father, who runs the Abu Bakr mosque in Middlesbrough, last week said that his son had “brought shame” upon the family.
Among the group of five British medical students currently thought to be hiding in Turkey are two British brothers from Leicester, Ibrahim, 21, and Mohamed, 23, who earlier this month abandoned their studies at UMST and flew to Turkey.
One source close to the nine in Syria said: “They are searching for the missing kids as a priority. We think that because the border has become harder to pass through they might be trying to wait, possibly with Fakhri, for stuff to die down before making another move.” They added that Turkish security services believed the five Britons were “in hiding”.
It is not clear where Fagiri was killed, although a Facebook posting from him in June refers to walking the streets of Raqqa.
The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR), which monitors several hundred foreign fighters in Syria, said it had obtained a statement believed to have been issued by Fagiri’s wife.
The unsigned statement warns others not to spread “blatant lies” about Fagiri, adding: “May Allah accept him. He didn’t carry out a martyrdom operation. I’ll post the story soon.”
Shiraz Maher from the ICSR said: “There was some ambiguity over precisely how Fagiri died. Some people thought he may have become a suicide bomber, but we’re confident this isn’t the case. It appears that Fagiri was battling with Syrian regime forces and was killed in combat.”
