UK Naval Officer Leaves To Join ISIS

UK Naval Officer Leaves To Join ISIS

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A UK-trained naval officer, 28-year-old Kuwaiti Ali Alosaimi, has joined the ranks of jihadi terror group ISIS. Alosaimi apparently trained for three years on a Merchant Navy officer’s course in Britain, and could possess wide knowledge of British maritime activity that could be used by the terror group.

The Telegraph reports that Alosaimi “worked for a state-owned Kuwaiti oil tanker company” before coming to the UK, training at South Tyneside College’s Marine School in South Shields and heading to Syria in April 2014, where he joined ISIS.

Western governments have long feared that ISIS could target shipping vessels as part of their operations, which has the potential to seriously hamper world trade. Alternatively, an attack on an oil tanker could cause a major environmental disaster. Alosaimi’s knowledge could be useful for planning such an attack.

“There is a significant environmental risk should there be such a spectacular attempt by terrorists, and this is profoundly worrying. However, we must balance concerns against the ability of an individual to cause such an incident.,” said Gavin Simmonds, director of security at the UK Chamber of Shipping.

Reportedly, Alosaimi never completed his training course, as he “did not finish the exams required for his marine license.” The College declines to comment on the matter.

Alosaimi’s radicalisation was caused by the killing of thousands of Syrian civilians by president Bashar al-Assad, a former roommate recalled.

“Alosaimi’s family in Kuwait said he became radicalised in the final year of his course. He grew a beard and began preaching to teenage relatives, urging them to join” ISIS, reports the Daily Mail.

The Kuwaiti national’s details were found in an ISIS-related cache of documents obtained by the Mail.

It is unknown what became of Alosaimi since 2014, or whether he is still alive, but the information he possessed was almost certainly very valuable to his commmanders.