Quick Facts
Biography
Khaled Sharrouf (born 23 February 1981) is an ISIS fighter best known for photos he posted on social media of his son, then 7, holding up the severed head of a Syrian soldier as a trophy. He was born in Australia to parents who had emigrated from Lebanon. In 2017 he became the first Australian dual citizen to have his Australian citizenship stripped for terrorism. He was reported killed in June 2015, but the Australian government was unable to confirm this. He was again reported to have been killed by a coalition airstrike in Syria on 11 August 2017.
Islamist activities
"Sharrouf was jailed for almost four years in Australia over his involvement in the 2004 Pendennis terrorist conspiracy."
In 2005, he was arrested at his home in Wiley Park along with eight others for his role in one of Australia’s biggest terror plots, during a raid when Australian counterterrorism units uncovered an enormous cache of guns, ammunition, and bomb-making material in Sydney and Melbourne.
Sharrouf was involved in planning the 2012 Sydney anti-Islam film protests.
ISIS
Sharrouf traveled from Sydney Airport to ISIL controlled territory on 6 December 2013 using his brother's passport. He later joined ISIL in 2014. His activities received wide coverage in Australia following his posting on the internet in August 2014 of a photo of his 7-year-old son holding the severed head of a Syrian soldier. The incident was strongly condemned by Australian leaders and by the public. Sharrouf's activities are thought to be war crimes. The incident raised concerns about Australian Muslims being recruited for terrorist activity abroad, and the possibility that the recruits would return to Australia and conduct attacks.
Sharrouf was reported to have been killed on 19 June 2015 by a drone strike. His death was not confirmed, and later reports suggest that he is still alive. In March 2016, Sharrouf 's daughter Zaynab stated "we know for sure he is dead". The Australian government was unable to confirm his death.
With Mohamed Elomar, Sharrouf posted many photographs of severed heads or dead and mutilated bodies.
On 11 August 2017 he was again reported to have been killed by an airstrike. Two of his sons were also killed. The 7.30 television current affairs programme said that the Australian Governemnt received "credible information" Sharrouf was killed by a coalition air strike while driving near Raqqa, Syria.
When questioned the Australian Immigration and Border Protection Minister Peter Dutton said that Sharrouf’s death would be nothing to mourn.
Stripped of citizenship
In February 2017, he was the first person stripped of Australian citizenship under the new laws of 2016.
Personal life
Sharrouf was married to Tara Nettleton. They had five children: Zaynab, Hoda, Abdullah, Zarqawi and Hamzah.
Nettleton, an Australian from Sydney, is thought to have died in Syria following appendix surgery complications. A family friend, Robert van Alst confirmed that Nettleton had died in 2015 but her mother, Karen Nettleton, said she had only been informed about her daughter's death around February 2016.