British-born Islamic State terror commander who boasted of involvement in killing anti-Muslim figure in the UK is shot dead

A British-born Islamic State commander who boasted of involvement in killing an anti-Muslim figure in the UK has been shot dead while leading an assault in Yemen, the jihadi group has claimed.

Abu Rayana al-Britani, who was said to have recruited and trained other UK terrorists, was reportedly shot while leading an assault on the village of al-Hamidah.

Intelligence experts are now attempting to establish whether the details in Abu Rayana’s tribute link him to a killing carried out on British soil, The Sun reports.

He reportedly travelled to Yemen for ‘terror training’.

According to the group’s newsletter al-Naba, Abu Rayana was in his 30s and was born into a ‘conservative family’ in the UK where he was known as Yunus. He was involved in gangs in his younger years and ‘was thrown in prison many times’.

The group said he became radicalised in the UK after ‘the invasion of Iraq’, and travelled to Yemen for terror training and to learn Arabic.

After returning to the UK he worked to radicalise ‘Christians’ and convert several to Islam, including one ‘disciple’ who ‘became hostile to the Christians’ and ‘killed one of the main guys harming Muslims’ in Britain, the jihadi group claimed.

Anti-terror officers are understood to be working to identify if this crime took place, and who the victim may have been if it did.

Al-Britaini returned to Yemen in around 2011 ‘for jihad’, ISIS claimed, saying he ‘had good positions’ and brought other foreign fighters to take part in a civil war in the country.

The group said he staying in the country and fought in a war there in 2015, changing allegiance to Islamic State from al-Qaida and being appointed an emir – or commander – leading men into battles.

It was in one such fight in the village of Al-Humaydah where he was killed. ‘The battles and clashes intensified and he threw an RPG shell … then they heard the crack of a shot and [al-Britani] fell’, the propaganda sheet said.

The terror group did not provide any further details about his identity.

Yemen’s civil war was sparked after the Huthis seized the capital Sanaa in 2014, prompting Saudi-led forces to intervene to prop up the government the following year.

Tens of thousands of people have died and millions displaced in what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Yesterday, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said that it had killed 138 Huthi rebels over the previous 24 hours in raids near the government stronghold of Marib.

The coalition, which has militarily backed the internationally-recognised Yemeni government since 2015, has reported strikes on a near-daily basis with high tolls each time.

The Huthis rarely comment on the strikes but have continued their advance towards Marib, the last remaining government stronghold in the north.

Britain, along with the US and France, has given the coalition logistical and intelligence support.

In March, Boris Johnson did not rule out deploying troops in Yemen as part of a future UN mission – but said conditions in the country would have to be ‘very different’.

Source: Daily Mail