Abu Usama al-Gharib: Who is the Egyptian ISIS member who got killed in coalition airstrikes?

Syrian and Iraqi media outlets reported the killing of high-ranking Austrian ISIS official and former Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF) member Mohamed Mahmoud (AKA Abu Usama al-Gharib) in a coalition air raid over one of Daesh prisons, east of Deir ez-Zor.

Born in 1985, Gharib, of an Egyptian origins, was considered one of the most dangerous Daesh operatives who kept appearing several times either as a conveyer of threats to governments or an executioner to opponents of the organization.

The danger that Gharib posed traces back to his involvement in the terror state the coincided with the 9/11 Attacks and the period that followed it, meaning that he was not like any Daesh member who got fascinated by the organization and decided to follow it recklessly, however, he followed this ideology in an early stage of his life and through several stops that preceded joining Daesh.

His first stage as a terrorist started in Austria, as he was considered one of al-Qaeda members, which led to his arrest in Dec. 9, 2007; and according to some of Gharib’s writings that some Jihadist websites published, he was arrested in Austria in 2007 after authorities said they became alarmed when he started to buy components for a possible suicide belt and his organization Media Front published a video threatening to carry out attacks in Germany and Austria if they did not withdraw their troops from Afghanistan.

Mahmoud was released from prison in Austria on September 15, 2011 after serving a four-year prison sentence for being a member and supporter of Al-Qaeda and its affiliates. He moved to Berlin upon release, and between 2011–12, he moved to Solingen in Germany. There he founded the Salafi organization Millatu Ibrahim.

It is suggested that after leaving Germany, he headed to Egypt and then moved to Syria in 2013 with a fake Libyan passport that he acquired through the Libya Embassy in Istanbul.

Joining Daesh dates back to 2013 when Turkish authorities managed to arrest Gharib, along with some members of the terrorist organization. Reports suggest that Turkey negotiated with Daesh to release the detained terrorists in exchange for the release of Turkish soldiers that Daesh held hostages.

After his release, he got married to a Syrian Arab poet called Ahlam al-Nasr (AKA the Poetess of Daesh), who wrote several poems commending the organization.

In September 2013, Gharib announced in one of his writings in a Daesh tabloid the establishment of a Caliphate in Europe, with Berlin as its capital, threatening to carry out operations in Germany and Austria. He also called the Austrian society as “corrupted.”

In addition to his military work at the organization, Gharib had his own hypotheses; he wrote a book in 2014 that called on women to join Daesh, justifying that Islam did not differentiate between men and women.

In addition to his writings as a Daesh member, Daesh media platform republished old writings that Garib wrote before joining the organization. Among these writings was a message that he wrote during his lock up in Austria to demand the Belgium authorities to release Malika El Aroud (AKA Umm Obeyda), a Moroccan activist with ties to al-Qaeda, and detain him instead.