Underscoring the deep concern the Abbott government has expressed in recent weeks about Australians involved with extremist groups, two prominent jihadists fighting with the al-Qaeda splinter group the Islamic State took to Twitter to issue fresh threats.
Mohamed Elomar, a former boxer from Sydney who has been implicated in executions of unarmed Iraqis, posted on the social media site a distressing picture of what appears to be a captured Iraqi soldier who has been beaten and is about to be executed.
The accompanying message states: "Look at the end of these Iraqi maliki dogs bunch of girls can't wait to see a Australian soldier cyring (sic) saying bakia."
"Bakia" means "he cries" in Arabic and "maliki" refers to the Shiite-led Iraqi government of Nouri al-Maliki, the fervent enemy of the Sunni extremists who have swept through northern Iraq in recent weeks. » | David Wroe | National Security Correspondent | Friday, July 05, 2014
* Digger is a military slang term for soldiers from Australia and New Zealand. [Source: Wikipedia]
