British Muslim who bragged on Newsnight that he was fighting a 'holy war' alongside Al Qaeda group in Syria has been killed



Ifthekar Jaman left his home in Portsmouth to fight for Al Qaeda in Syria

It is not known whether the 23-year-old died in combat



Jaman boasted on BBC's Newsnight he was 'fighting a Holy war'



Four other men from Portsmouth's Jami mosque are believed to be in Syria



Boasts: One of the last images of Ifthekar Jaman, who died while fighting with al-Qaeda in Syria

A young British man who boasted of fighting ‘5-star jihad’ in Syria has been killed, his family has revealed.

Ifthekar Jaman, 23, died at the weekend in a battlefield clash 2,000 miles from his Hampshire home.

He was one of an estimated 350 British men to have taken up arms with Al Qaeda-linked groups in Syria – where they are known as British Kataa’ib, meaning British Brigade.

Speaking a month ago, Jaman declared he was ready to die as a martyr, vowing: ‘I don’t plan to come back. Life is for the hereafter... it’s an eternal paradise so the sacrifice is small.’

He also urged fellow Britons to join him, using his Twitter account to glory in his hate-filled missions.



He described fighting in Syria as ‘5-star jihad’ because of its ‘relaxing’ nature.

Recent photographs show Jaman – a supporter of fanatical British cleric Anjem Choudary – apparently manning armed checkpoints in the Middle Eastern war zone.

Yesterday his parents were too upset to speak at their £190,000 three-bedroom terrace house in Southsea, but his younger brother Mustakim Jaman confirmed he had died on Saturday night and that his distraught family had been informed on Sunday.



He said: ‘We are in complete shock. We need time to process this, it is a lot for us to take in.’

Jaman, was who born in Portsmouth and attended local schools, left the UK earlier this year after telling his parents he was going to study in Turkey, but he slipped across the border to Syria on May 14.

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Ifthekar Jaman left his home in Portsmouth earlier this year and joined an Al Qaeda group fighting in Syria

He joined ISIS (the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant), a notorious group of Al Qaeda extremists waging jihad against the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad.

The last known pictures of him, circulated online at the start of this month, show Jaman and another Briton armed with AK-47 assault rifles and stopping vehicles at a dust-blown checkpoint.

Jaman – known in Syria as Abu Abdur Rahman Al-Britani – used his Twitter page to glorify the lifestyle and criticise British parents who tried to stop their children travelling to Syria.

Mohammed el-Araj, from West London, (left) was killed during an ambush on Assad forces earlier this year. Another Briton, Abu Hujama al-Britani, right, was also killed. Centre is a former Dutch soldier who trained them

He wrote on October 8: ‘These days, parents are more proud of their offspring getting bank jobs rather than joining the Mujahidoon.’

On October 2, Jaman revealed: ‘There are people who think that the Jihad in Syria is 24/7 fighting but it’s much more relaxed than that. They’re calling it a 5 star Jihad.’

The exact circumstances of Jaman’s death are unknown, but last night he was described as a martyr in a series of posts on social media, including on Facebook.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: ‘We are aware of reports of the death of a British national in Syria.’