Sydney (AFP) - A shocking image of what is believed to be the young son of an Australian man holding a decapitated head in Syria shows how barbaric the Islamic State "terrorist army" is, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Monday. He made the comment while announcing Australia will likely join airdrops of supplies to Iraqi civilians besieged by jihadist IS militants on a barren mountain.
The picture, taken in the northern Syrian city of Raqa, was posted on the Twitter account of Khaled Sharrouf, an Australian who fled to Syria last year & is now an IS fighter, The Australian newspaper said. It reportedly shows Sharrouf's 7-year-old, Sydney-raised son dressed like any other young boy in blue checked trousers, a blue shirt & baseball cap, struggling to hold up the severed head of a slain Syrian soldier by his hair. It was captioned with the words "That's my boy".
Another photo published by the newspaper shows Sharrouf dressed in camouflage fatigues posing w/3 young boys whom it said are believed by security agencies to be his sons. All are holding guns in front of the flag of the Islamic State militants who have swept across Iraq and Syria, seizing swathes of territory. Abbott, speaking to ABC radio from the Netherlands, said the pictures showed the barbaric nature of the Sunni extremists formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq & the Levant (ISIL). "What we've got to appreciate is that Islamic State - as they're now calling themselves - is not just a terrorist group, it's a terrorist army & they're seeking not just a terrorist enclave but effectively a terrorist state, a terrorist nation," he said. "And this does pose extraordinary problems...not just for the people of the Middle East but for the wider world.
Australia has an arrest warrant out for Sharrouf, who has also been pictured posing w/severed heads. Officials have said up to 150 Australians are fighting alongside militants overseas, mostly in Iraq & Syria. Sharrouf, who served almost 4 years in prison after pleading guilty over a 2005 conspiracy to attack Sydney, fled the country using his brother's passport. Australian Defence Minister David Johnston said he was "revolted" by the image, which he called "a shocking misrepresentation of Islam...I stand very far from that concept -- this is an act of a lunatic," he told the ABC.Read full article at: http://news.yahoo.com/australian-pm-appalled-decapitated-head-photo-020804573.html
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