Canberra : Australian terrorist and Islamic State (IS) kingpin Mohammad Ali Baryalei is believed to have been killed in Syria, a media report said Wednesday.
“I’ve just received the news that our beloved brother Mohamed Ali, who was recently strongly attacked by Australian media has been martyred,” Abdul Salaam Mahmoud, a friend of Baryalei, posted on Facebook Tuesday night, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Authorities in Australia were seeking to confirm the report Wednesday. However, the deaths of some Australian fighters in Syria have never been confirmed because of the lack of communications and intelligence inside Syria.
It is believed that Baryalei, a part-time actor, had risen to become a senior leader within the terrorist group and had facilitated the movement of up to half of the 60 Australians fighting for IS in Syria and Iraq.
He is also reported to have earned himself a trusted position in the operational command of the group.
Baryalei left for the Middle East April 2013, informing his friends that he was going to study ‘Sharia’ (moral code and religious law of a prophetic religion) in Turkey.
The Australian federal police issued a warrant for his arrest, pertaining to terrorism-related offences, earlier this year.