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NHS doctor from Sheffield travelled to Syria to join Isis

Issam Abuanza left his wife and two children at home in Sheffield to travel to Syria in 2014

Samuel Osborne
Tuesday 24 May 2016 12:29 EDT
An image on Issam Abuanza's Facebook page shows him wearing doctors' scrubs and carrying a handgun in a holster, as he smiles and raises his index finger in the air in a gesture commonly associated with Isis
An image on Issam Abuanza's Facebook page shows him wearing doctors' scrubs and carrying a handgun in a holster, as he smiles and raises his index finger in the air in a gesture commonly associated with Isis (Issam Abuanza/Facebook)

Leaked Isis recruitment documents suggest an NHS doctor left his family in the UK to join Isis in Syria.

Issam Abuanza, 37, left his wife and two children at home in Sheffield to travel to Syria in 2014, the BBC reports.

After crossing in to Syria, he filled out a registration form, telling his Isis handlers he was a doctor specialising in endocrinology - the diagnosis and treatment of diseases related to hormones.

Another image on Issam Abuanza's Facebook page shows him dressed him combat fatigues, reading the Quran with an AK-47 assault rifle resting against his body
Another image on Issam Abuanza's Facebook page shows him dressed him combat fatigues, reading the Quran with an AK-47 assault rifle resting against his body (Issam Abuanza/Facebook)

Images on his Facebook account show him wearing doctors' scrubs and carrying a handgun in a holster, as he smiles and raises his index finger in the air in a gesture commonly associated with Isis.

Another photo shows him dressed him combat fatigues, reading the Quran with an AK-47 assault rifle resting against his body.

In February 2015, he posted about the burning to death of a captured Jordanian pilot by Isis, writing: "I would've liked for them to burn him extremely slowly and I could treat him so we could torch him once more."

A month earlier, he celebrated the terror attack at the Paris office of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, writing: "Praise be to God for this terrorist act. God kill off their enemies, military and civilian, men and women, adult and children."

He has not posted anything on Facebook since October.

Abuana gained a licence to practice medicine in the UK in 2009, according to the BBC.

He qualified as a doctor in Baghdad in 2002, a year before the US-led invasion of Iraq. He worked at Glan Clwyd Hospital in North Wales from May 2007 to July 2009 and also worked at Scarborough Hospital between October 2012 and August 2013.

Before leaving to travel to Isis territory, he had been combining shifts as registrar with running online clothing company selling kaftan dresses. He dissolved the company three months before arriving in Syria.

Isis - awards ceremony for Quran memorization

His sister, Najla Abuanza, told the BBC: "He used to be quite the dashing young man, very modern. I've no idea how he became like this or who showed him the path to terror."

She said her parents will "never forgive him. My dad's wish was to see him before he dies. He has spent all his money on him and his education and this is what he does."

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