SYDNEY (AP) — An Australian teenage runaway has reportedly appeared in an Islamic State propaganda video, warning that the movement won’t stop fighting until the extremists’ notorious black flag is flying above every nation.
Australian media on Tuesday widely reported a video posted on YouTube in which a speaker believed to be 17-year-old Abdullah Elmir from Bankstown in Sydney’s southwest warns western leaders of the terror group’s resolve.
Using the name Abu Khaled, holding a rifle and dressed in military garb, he is surrounded by dozens of other male jihadists as he addresses the camera.
“To the leaders, to Obama, to Tony Abbott, I say this: These weapons that we have, these soldiers, we will not stop fighting,” he says, referring to the U.S. president and Australian prime minister.
“We will not put down our weapons until we reach your lands and until we take the head of every tyrant and until the black flag (of IS) is flying high in every single land, until we put the black flag on top of Buckingham Palace, until we put the black flag on top of the White House,” he added.
Abdullah went missing in June, saying he was going fishing, according to media reports. But he told his family shortly afterward that he was in Turkey and about to “cross the border.”
Elmir’s family could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday.
A 16-year-old Australian who disappeared with Elmir was found by his father and returned to Australia, Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
Sydney Muslim community leader Jamal Rifi said he used his contacts in Lebanon, where his brother is justice minister, to try to find Elmir and his 16-year-old friend when they originally left Australia.
Rifi described the video as distressing.
“What I saw today made me very upset with a heavy heart because that was a death sentence for this boy,” Rifi told the Australian broadcaster.
Abbott said in a statement that the video “again highlights the threat posed by ISIL.”
“ISIL is a threat that reaches out to Australia and our allies and partners,” he said.
Australia will soon deploy 200 special forces troops into Iraq to advise and assist Iraqi security forces. Australia has also deployed six F/A-18F Super Hornet jet fighters which are flying almost daily combat missions against Islamic State targets in northern Iraq.
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