University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield graduate was in same militant group as ‘Jihadi John’
The Islamic State murderer known as 'Jihadi John' - Credit: Archant
A former University of Hertfordshire student, who was killed in Syria while waging ‘holy war’, was in the same unit as ISIS killer ‘Jihadi John’.
Al-Mazwagi with AK-47 - Credit: Archant
Ibrahim al-Mazwagi, 21, was killed in Syria in February last year.
He was part of one of the many militia groups fighting against President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s civil war.
He was seen practicing shooting an AK-47 and chatting about jihad (holy war) in the last recorded videos of al-Mazwagi’s life.
In the recordings he said: “Jihad is to kick Obama”.
Katiba al-Muhajireen or Migrants Brigade with black flag of ISIS - Credit: Archant
And later added: “Jihad is to spend all your time and effort fighting the enemies of Allah.”
Ultimately as time has told the militias have been routed by or absorbed by the Islamic State or ISIS/ISIL.
Most Read
- 1 County Lines supplier sentenced to four years in prison
- 2 Revealed: Hertfordshire's most desirable villages
- 3 Co-op shop broken into
- 4 What is the future for The Howard Centre?
- 5 Construction begins on landmark University of Hertfordshire building
- 6 'Where are the housing reductions for Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield?'
- 7 Council confirms which Local Plan sites will be dropped
- 8 Family first for O'Leary as accumulation of challenges leads to Potters Bar Town resignation
- 9 Shoppers predict ‘demise’ of Welwyn Garden City town centre after store closures announced
- 10 Lee O'Leary resigns as manager of Isthmian League Potters Bar Town
Since killer ‘Jihadi John’ was unmasked as former University of Westminster graduate Mohammed Emwazi last week, it was also revealed Emwazi was part of the Katiba al-Muhajireen, or Migrants Brigade – the same unit al-Mazwagi fought with.
The group was seen in another video wearing sinister black balaclavas and flying the now-familiar black flag of ISIS.
Ibrahim al-Mazwagi - Credit: Archant
At the time of al-Mazwagi’s death, Ross Renton, dean of students at the University of Hertfordshire, said: “Ibrahim was a student at the University in 2009 until 2011 studying BA (Hons) Business.
“Whilst here, he had a good student record and was well-liked by his peers and his tutors.
“Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.”
MP Grant Shapps said: “I can tell the Welwyn Hatfield Times that the Government is making every effort to track down Mohammed Emwazi and other extremists and we’ll be using every resource available such as the police and security services to bring them to justice wherever they are in the world.”
MP Grant Shapps said the Government was 'making every effort to track down Mohammed Emwazi and other extremists' - Credit: Archant
He added: “It is very troubling that people with this poisonous ideology are present in our society and whilst there is no easy solution of eradicating extremism, we must continue to do all we can to confront it.
“For example, we’ve prevented hate preachers from coming to Britain and groups or individuals that condone extremism are prevented from being given a public platform.
“We’re also working hard on a global level with our international partners to combat this deadly threat to our society.”
