Every conflict has a mythical hero or two or more. In the fight against ISIS, one of the most sensational icons of the fight against terrorism is the fierce looking Angel of Death aka Abu Azrael aka Daesh Killer aka jihadi slayer aka Rambo of Iraq. He knows how to play the part with his fierce looking beard, shaved head and showing off his muscular bulk in how he dresses in his military style attire with Special Forces logos embedded.
But who is this Rambo of Iraq?
He is a Shia commander who admittedly does pride himself in being as ferocious as ISIS savages.
His name is Abu Azrael’s Imam and he leads a fearsome pack called Ali Brigades backed by the Shia Iranian Revolutionary Guard, an element of the Iraqi military Popular Mobilisation Forces, a coalition of Iraqi Shia militias.
He savors and promotes the heroic tales surrounding him as they reach mythical heights, although he does not confirm the most fantastic ones lest he be discredited by man and Allah:
He has killed 1500 fighters, the legend goes; He is the most fearsome figure ISIS faces; He is the nightmare of the terrorists: He will be the savior of Iraq and more.
The Sunnis and ISIS operatives and followers are fair game.
In August 2015, Al Jazeera reported that he produced a video showing how he sliced an ISIS operative like a kabob.
“They sent their elite fighters they said, and look at the third one we got, slicing him off. Where will they run away from us?,” Abu Azrael supposedly said as he started cutting up the charred body with a sword, Al Jazeera wrote.
AT one point, ISIS claimed they had killed the strongman, but Rambo of Iraq’s Facebook page put a stop to that fantasy. The photo here showing his corpse from his Facebook was just photoshopped he tells his fans, and he is alive and well. He was injured, he admits (see the photo showing him in a cast) but that was a temporary setback.
In the last few days, the media is abuzz with the comeback of the Rambo of Iraq.
“Daesh fighter across the so-called caliphate will be sleeping with one eye open tonight after the news broke that their worst nightmare the ‘Iraqi Rambo’ had returned.” unilad.co.uk wrote of the Rambo’s comeback to retake the city of Fallujah.
“ISIS’ worst nightmare is back: Axe-wielding ‘Angel of Death’ surfaces outside Fallujah and vows to ‘pulverise’ the militants still in the besieged Iraqi city,” a Daily Mail Headline said.
“Abu Azrael sends message from Fallujah,” thelongwarjournal wrote.
“Let’s piss these losers off a little bit [lit. press the tired ones a little bit] Iran, Iran. By God, you’ve killed us with [talking about] Iran. Now, if the vehicles didn’t come from Iran, you’d sit down. May God recompense them.
Let’s press them a little bit…[Switches to Farsi] I am the killer of DAISH [pejorative for the Islamic State] for the Imam of the Age Mahdi (blessings upon him).”
