The terrorist Islamic State group has declared the death of Egyptian member Mahmoud al-Ghandour, 24, who recently joined the group.
The members circulated news of his death in a suicide attack in the Iraqi city of Ramadi.
“Abu Dagana Al-Masry is on his way to a suicide mission in Ramadi. May God grant him success. Pray for him,” wrote Ghandour on his Twitter account hours before his death.
Ghandour used to work as a football referee. His father is a goalkeeper coach working in a Qatari club.
In February, IS Egyptian member Islam Yakan announced that his friend Ghandour had rejoined the group after being released from prison on September 23, 2014. Ghandour had originally joined IS in 2013 after traveling to Syria with aid convoys via Turkey. He was arrested on July 21, 2014, but returned to the group upon his release.
Former Jihadi figure Sabra al-Qassemy said IS selects members who are willing to take part in suicide operations from different nationalities “to encourage people of their countries to know their stories and thus attract them through the group’s clients in the country.”
He told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the group always works on making the suiciders heros through the posting of videos and posters on the Internet, as well as prayers for them in all languages.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
