Jake Bilardi’s evil role in Islamic State suicide bombing mission revealed for the first time

Days before he blew himself up for Islamic State, Aussie teen terrorist Jake Bilardi made a phone call to his brother. Listen to the audio.

Exclusive: Teen terrorist Jake Bilardi helped plot an Islamic State bombing operation that claimed up to 55 lives, with Iraq’s military accusing him of playing a far bigger role than was known at the time of his death.

In an extraordinary court case in the United States, the commander of Iraq’s forces in the region said the Australian was central to a “highly co-ordinated and organised operation” involving eight to 10 bombings including his own in 2015.

Australian Jake Bilardi (shown in inset) died while conducting a suicide bombing operation he had a large role in. Picture: Supplied

News Corp Australia can also reveal that in the days before his death, Bilardi told his brother about the plans for “one huge co-ordinated operation”, as he confirmed he would blow himself up in a car.

The revelations stem from the trial of evil Islamic State mastermind Mirsad Kandic, who recruited Bilardi and encouraged his suicide mission and has now been convicted of serious terrorism charges, including over the Australian’s death.

In March 2015, after Bilardi’s death in Iraq’s Anbar province shocked Australia, an Iraqi military spokesman said the bombing did not claim any lives.

But Lieutenant General Rasheed Fluhe Al-Holfe, the head of Iraq’s joint operations in Anbar, said earlier this year that Bilardi’s fighting name Abu Abdullah al-Australi “came up a lot” in intercepted communications between Islamic State fighters before that “grave day” in March.

“The reason why that name remains in my memory is that it was repeated a lot during that operation and before the operation. And he received conversations that we intercepted for the success of attacking al-Anbar,” General Al-Holfe told a New York court.

Asked what role Bilardi played in the bombings, General Al-Holfe said: “He was playing a very important and pivotal role.”

“That co-ordination, that high level of co-ordination and synchronisation of the attacks showed a high level of ability that resulted in that large number of martyrs and injured that we suffered during that attack,” he said.

“This particular individual, along with colleagues of his, caused us huge losses in co-operation with local residents and foreign national fighters.”

“On that day alone, we had more than 30 killed – 30 martyrs, along with 25 missing individuals whose bodies were never found, and 61 people were injured.”

In a chilling call with his brother Jesse in February 2015, Bilardi said he had been switched out of another planned suicide attack, and suggested “one huge co-ordinated operation” was planned in Anbar.

Listen to Jake’s phone call with Jesse below:

Due to parts of the recording being inaudible, follow the transcript below:

He said he would be in a car in Ramadi, with “other operatives … in other places”.

“It definitely has to be some sort of offensive,” Bilardi said.

“I don’t know, like, if it’s going to be over a few months or if it’s going to be maybe a week or something.”

Jake Bilardi pictured after leaving Australia to fight with Islamic State. Picture: Supplied

Kandic immediately praised his “brother” Bilardi for the “martyrdom operation” on Twitter, and in another tweet later that year, he claimed he had killed 57 soldiers.

General Al-Holfe said 15 Islamic State terrorists fighting under “that dirty black flag” blew themselves up that day in the Anbar region, Iraq’s largest province on the Syrian border, in an effort to seize control of it from Iraqi forces.

Jake Bilardi who joined ISIS after he met recruiter Mirsad Kandic on Twitter. Picture: Supplied

“However, it didn’t fall then – it lasted for two additional months,” he said.

General Al-Holfe, one of Iraq’s most senior military leaders, said his soldiers “didn’t have the capabilities to check who died” on the day, but that Bilardi’s name was no longer mentioned in intercepted communications after that point except for condolence messages.

The day after Bilardi’s death, Iraqi military spokesman General Tahssin Ibrahim had told the ABC: “This guy, he never do anything, he just kill himself … he just destroy some cars and injure little soldiers, that’s it.”

Originally published as Jake Bilardi’s evil role in Islamic State suicide bombing mission revealed for the first time