Footage has emerged of Britain’s most infamous terrorists chatting and socialising in an internet café used by Islamic State militants plotting attacks.
The video proves for the first time that the men knew each other and gives a rare insight into the lives of foreign fighters inside the terrorist state.
The men shown are Mohammed Emwazi, who beheaded two Britons and three Americans in propaganda videos; Junaid Hussain, an Islamic State hacker and husband of the UK’s ‘most-wanted‘ woman Sally Jones; Reyaad Khan, a recruiter and Christian convert; and Zimbabwean-born sniper Raymond Matimba.
British and U.S. drone and air strikes have since killed Emwazi, Hussain, and Khan, with only Matimba thought to be alive.
According to The Telegraph, which obtained the clip, the café in Raqqa, the capital of the caliphate, was an important location for terrorists to meet, talk, and even plan attacks on the West.
The paper said a Syrian man, who smuggled it out of Raqqa earlier this month after his neighbourhood was liberated by U.S.-backed forces, filmed the footage in November 2014.
He asked not to be identified, to protect the safety of his family still living in Islamic State, and explained how he gained the trust of the jihadists after months of talking to them.
He is well versed in Islamic scripture and Shariah law, helping him to become one of a small number of locals allowed into the cafe, primarily used by British and European militants.
In 2015, he claims to have overheard two French and one Belgian terrorist plotting the Paris attacks. Months later, the men travelled back to Europe posing as asylum seekers and committed the Bataclan and Stade de France massacres, leaving 130 dead.
A more benign conversation can be heard in the footage between the local man and Junaid Hussain, with the Brit asking about getting a new memory card for his computer and transferring money.
Hussain was trained in IT, a feared hacker, and one of the Islamic State’s most important online recruiters before he was killed.
The source said Hussain’s laptop had run out of space as it was filled with Islamic State videos. Emwazi and Khan can be seen talking quietly on the sofa in the background.
“Emwazi was only violent in the media, but in normal life, he was a calm person,” the source told The Telegraph.
“He spoke quietly and little, but when he did he was respected. He never hurt people in public, he would avoid any contact with civilians on the street.
“Junaid was the IT guy, the controller, the leader. He was the most feared. When he entered the cafe the others would all stand up and look to him. He would tell everyone what to do,” he said.