The disappointed father of Nasser Muthana identified his son in the new ISIS killing video released yesterday as one of a group of men in army-style fatigues beheading a party of Syrian army and air force officers.
Muthana, 20, had been a prospective medical student in the United Kingdom before defecting to the Islamic State earlier last year. He rose to prominence among the hundreds of British passport holders who have gone to fight in Iraq and Syria after he appeared in an ISIS propaganda video aimed at recruiting new fighters from the West.
Father Ahmed Muthana told British newspaper the Daily Mail: “I am like any other father. I am trying not to believe it is my boy but it looks like him. But I am not going to make excuses for him. He is a grown man and he must face up to what he has done.
“I cannot be certain but it looks like my son. He must fear Allah now for killing people. How can he expect to face Allah if he is killing human beings? No, he must be mentally ill – either that or there is something else not right.”
In the latest video, Nasser stands in line abreast with over a dozen other jihadi fighters, each with a boiler-suit wearing prisoner of war kneeling at their feet. Using a military-style serrated knife, Nasser Muthana follows the commands of fellow Briton ‘Jihadi John’, the masked murderer responsible for the killings of Western hostages and plunges his knife into the neck of his captive.
This ultra-voilent behaviour is far removed from the man who once aspired to be a doctor and who received four offers of places to read medicine at UK universities. When he disappeared last year, his parents assumed he had moved to University, but instead he went to Turkey and then crossed the border into IISS territory. At the time his father said the move made him “want to cry” and he asked “Is he going to kill?”. Unfortunately his question appears to have now been answered.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.