Five former pupils from same prestigious west London school killed fighting for Isis
Fatlum Shalaku was known more commonly as his chosen pseudonym Abu Musa al-Britani
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Your support makes all the difference.A British Isis fighter who blew himself up as part of a militant onslaught on the Iraqi city of Ramadi has been revealed to be Fatlum Shalaku, a 20-year-old body builder and former student.
ITV News revealed that Shalaku, who had chosen to go by the name of Abu Musa al-Britani, was one of six suicide bombers fighting with Isis as it pushed into the Iraqi city this month. His older brother, Flamur, 23, was reportedly killed while fighting on the frontline in March.
Shalaku is the fifth former pupil from the Holland Park School to have died in jihad, according to The Sunday Times, following the death of his brother and of Mohamed Nasser, 21, who reportedly died during fighting last year. Mohamed el-Araj, 23, from Ladbroke Grove, reportedly died in 2013, and Nassim Terrri, 25, was killed on a mountainside in March 2012.
A former school friend of Fatlum, who chose to remain anonymous, told ITV news that the student had enjoyed posting photos of his “honed physic” on Facebook and described him as an “extremely friendly, approachable” and “popular” person.
The former school friend said Fatlum’s transition into holding extremist Islamic views was “gradual,” which made the news about his traveling to join Isis more surprising, but his older brother Flamur showed an “almost overnight transformation”.
“[Flamur] was someone you would see drinking, socialising, beardless and popular with ladies – overnight he has a grim expression on his face, his demeanour changes.
“With Fatlum it was more gradual,” they said.
Last year two more former Holland Park School pupils were arrested under terror laws and accused of funding jihadi fighters in Syria.
Nawal Msaad, 27, who had been caught trying to smuggle €20,000 (£15,800) in her underwear on a flight to Turkey, was cleared of the charge, but Amal El-Wahabi, who had allegedly asked Msaad to be her “trusted courier for the money,” was convicted at the Old Bailey.
Holland Park School was not able to be reached for comment.
The school’s headmaster Colin Hall has previously said: “We take a very strong stance that this is a secular school and whatever you believe or might think, it stops at the school gates when you come in. We’ve got a very strong line on secularity and a very strong line on zero tolerance to any kind of fundamentalism from any religion.”
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