Second Briton kills himself in suicide bomb attack

A MARRIED father-of-two is believed to have become the second British jihadist to have killed himself while fighting in Syria and Iraq.

Kabir Ahmed, aka Abu Sumayyah, left, is the second British jihadist to blow himself up

The man, named in reports as Kabir Ahmed, from Derby, is believed to have been involved in a suicide bomb attack in the town of Baiji, north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, on Friday. Going under the name Abu Sumayyah, the 32-year-old is said not to have told his family that he was fleeing Britain to fight for terrorist organisation Islamic State.

It would make Ahmed the second British jihadist suicide bomber, after Abdul Waheed Majeed blew himself up in February when he drove a lorry laden with explosives into a jail in the Syrian city of Aleppo.

Ahmed’s identity was confirmed by Shiraz Maher, from the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King’s College in London, which monitors social media accounts of alleged jihadists.

Writing on Twitter, Mr Maher wrote: “British foreign fighter, Abu Sumayyah, (real name: Kabir Ahmed) from Derby carried out a suicide bombing in Baiji, Iraq, yesterday.

“British suicide bomber in Iraq, Abu Sumayyah (Kabir Ahmed) originally joined Jund al-Sham in Syria and then moved to Islamic State.

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“Abu Sumayyah (Kabir Ahmed) was 32, married, and had children.”

Last night Aleem Sheid, 33, of Madeley Street in Derby, where Ahmed’s family were said to live, said he believed he had been “brainwashed”.

“It’s a sad day to hear this news, about this young man that has committed this act in Iraq,” he said.

“It makes me feel very upset to hear a young man with a young family has been brainwashed and done this.

“He was a nice guy, I socialised with him, we would talk about work, life, that sort of thing. We had certain family issues that were similar, like his mum and dad were separated like mine.”

Another resident, who declined to be named, said: “He was just a normal chilled-out kind of guy. But I can honestly say, no disrespect, that he was not the brightest of lads. He was a follower, not a leader. You could ask him to do something and he would do it.”

The Foreign Office is now looking into the incident. A spokesman said: “We are aware of reports of the death of a British national in Iraq and are looking into them.”

Ahmed was one of three men to be jailed in 2012 for handing out a leaflet calling for gay people to be executed.

Ahmed, with two others, distributed material entitled The Death Penalty? that showed an image of a mannequin hanging from a noose and quoted Islamic texts that said capital punishment was the only way to rid society of homosexuality.

Following a trial at Derby Crown Court, Ahmed and two co-defendants, Ihjaz Ali and Razwan Javed, were convicted of distributing threatening written material intending to stir up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation.

The leaflet stated that the Islamic verdict on anyone “caught committing homosexuality” is to apply capital punishment to both parties involved. It said: “The death sentence is the only way this immoral crime can be erased from corrupting society and act as a deterrent for any other ill person who is remotely inclined in this bent way.”

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