Aberdeen IS jihadist had no fear of death, says friend

THE Aberdeen man killed in an RAF drone strike against the so-called Islamic State group had “absolutely no fear of death”, a childhood friend has said.

Ruhul Amin, a British citizen from Aberdeen killed by an RAF drone attack in Syria. Picture: PA

Former St Machar Academy pupil Ruhul Amin, 26, died in the Syrian town of Raqqa following the strike.

Stephen Marvin said he spoke to Amin on the phone after he went to Syria to ask him why he joined the group.

Mr Marvin said: “He said, ‘If I die, I’ll be with Allah’.”

Mr Marvin said: “On the phone he still spoke to me as if he was exactly the same person, as if we were sitting in front of each other speaking.

“But you could tell there was something completely different about him.

“He had absolutely no fear of death. When I was on the phone with him the first time I heard gunshots and I asked, ‘Are you not scared of what’s going on?’

“He said, ‘No, it was rebel fighters at the other side of a river’. He said, ‘If I die, I’ll be with Allah’.

“He said, ‘Two of my brothers died previously and they still had a smile on their face for three days and their body, when it started to decompose, still smelled like roses and that’s because Allah is protecting them’.”

He also said Amin told him: “We only attack people who will attack us.

“He assured me there were no plans to come to Scotland, anyway.

“It’s kind of hard to have sympathy with him.

“I wouldn’t say the government should be just going over and annihilating each and every one of them, but surely he knew what he was getting into.”

Muslim leaders in Aberdeen have called on young members of the community to learn lessons from the deaths.

His radicalisation surprised many friends, who remembered him as an avid fan of Aberdeen Football Club.

He prayed at Aberdeen Mosque and Islamic Centre when growing up.