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Perth born ‘Dr Jihad’ Tareq Kamleh appears in new Islamic State propaganda video

THE Australian doctor who fled the country to fight with Islamic State has appeared in a new video. He looks nothing like his former clean-cut self.

Australian Doctor appears in new ISIS video

THE Australian doctor who fled the country two years ago to fight with Islamic State has appeared in a new video overnight, calling on would-be terrorists to “fight for the cause anywhere”.

In a call to arms by the terror group, Perth-born paediatrician Tareq Kamleh, known as “Dr Jihad” or the “Playboy doctor” in mainstream media, appears in an Islamic State propaganda video looking markedly different to when he first appeared in 2015.

The clip is proof the doctor, who was described at the time by Australian colleagues as “lazy” and “flirtatious”, has survived the last two-years of war after travelling from Australia to war torn Raqqa in Syria.

“Is it that you love this life more than you love the life after? But the enjoyment of this life is only but little,” he says in the video.

In a direct message to US president Donald Trump, in which he called predecessor Obama “effeminate” he threatened Islamic State were “eagerly awaiting your attempt” to put troops on the ground in the Middle East.

“We were so happy because for a long time we have been waiting for your soldiers to meet us on the ground here and your effeminate predecessor Obama danced around this subject for too long,” Kamleh said.

“He refused to send us your soldiers and now we know they are on the lands wanting to enter our lands. We are really eagerly awaiting your attempt.

“We love death more than you love life.”

Tareq Kamleh appears in the new propaganda video for Islamic State.
Tareq Kamleh appears in the new propaganda video for Islamic State.
Adelaide-trained doctor Tareq Kamleh, who has been recruited by ISIS.
Adelaide-trained doctor Tareq Kamleh, who has been recruited by ISIS.
In the new clip, Kamleh claims he tends to women and children injured in US air strikes.
In the new clip, Kamleh claims he tends to women and children injured in US air strikes.

In the new clip, Kamleh carries a machine gun and wears a bullet proof vest in what some reports describe as a tunnel under Raqqa and urges lone wolf attacks on Australia.

“We’re dealing with countless numbers of burnt children that are coming in at the moment from the continuous bombings that America is dropping on us,” he says.

“It really surprises me of how the Muslim nation is acting at the moment and how stagnant you have all become.

“What more will it take for it to be a justified cause to come her for Allah’s sake?”

“And if you can’t make a way to come here, jihad itself isn’t only in the lands of Syria or Iraq,

fighting for the cause of Allah is anywhere.

“You are living in the countries that are sending us rockets. You are living in the countries that are killing Muslim men here and you are paying taxes to them

“You have no honour, you have no self respect. You have no love for fellow Muslims.”

Tareq Kamleh calls on Muslim to join the fight against democracy.
Tareq Kamleh calls on Muslim to join the fight against democracy.
The Australian doctor, Tareq Kamleh who calls himself Abu Yusuf, says he travelled from his home country to join IS and is using his medical skills "as part of my jihad for Islam".
The Australian doctor, Tareq Kamleh who calls himself Abu Yusuf, says he travelled from his home country to join IS and is using his medical skills "as part of my jihad for Islam".
“We love death more than you love life,” Kamleh claims.
“We love death more than you love life,” Kamleh claims.

When he first appeared in an Islamic State propaganda video in 2015, the blue-eyed young doctor introduced himself in the stylised IS propaganda video as Abu Yusuf and said he was a doctor who travelled to the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa from Australia to offer his medical services as part of his “jihad for Islam”.

He was seen tending to injured children in a hospital blaming “democracy” for the number of injured in Islamic-State held territory.

My names Abu Yousuf from Australia,” he says, his Australian-drawl particularly noticeable.

He was soon identified as former Adelaide University student Tareq Kamleh, who completed his medical studies at Adelaide University and later moved to Perth.

At the time he was a clean-cut medical student who drank alcohol and “had lots of girlfriends”, according to former colleagues.

In the new video, he blamed the West for its strikes on Islamic state held territory.

Doctor Tareq Kamleh in his first Islamic State video.
Doctor Tareq Kamleh in his first Islamic State video.
At the end of the video, he claims she died as a result of her injuries. Neither claim can be verified.
At the end of the video, he claims she died as a result of her injuries. Neither claim can be verified.

A former Adelaide University student who knew Kamleh but did not want to be named said he had shown no signs of fundamentalism when she knew him at university.

“He was a pretty normal guy, he didn’t have any IS related interests.”

She described him as ‘clean cut’ but said he was well known among her group as a “womaniser” who also drank alcohol.

After completing his studies at Adelaide he moved to Queensland and then to Perth where he worked in pediatrics.

Photos on Kamleh’s sparse facebook account show him surfing, in a hospital and shooting a gun.

Australian National University terrorism expert Clarke Jones confirmed the video’s authenticity.

“This is certainly legit,” he said.

— Know more? Email youngma@news.com.au

Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/national/perth-born-dr-jihad-tareq-kamleh-appears-in-new-islamic-state-propaganda-video/news-story/7171f9434f7242515bc62a914859a3f7