An “obese” Islamic State (IS) ‘mufti’, Shifa al-Nima, dubbed as “Jabba the Jihadi” on social media, was captured by the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team of Iraqi forces on 16 January, reported News18 .
This was scored as a “big” catch in the city of Mosul where they nabbed the ISIS cleric, described as “morbidly obese” by various publications, weighing a whopping 250 kg approximately. The Islamic State leader was loaded onto a flatbed pickup truck by the Iraqi SWAT team as he was too large to be accommodated inside the police car, reported New York Post .
According to an official statement by the Iraqi forces, the apprehended mufti al-Nima was known for “provocative speeches against the security forces” and was an important leader of “Islamic State gangs”. The statement further added that Bari passed “fatwas” to order the killings of Islamic clerics who refused to pledge their loyalty to IS. The Jerusalem Post described the locals as having “terrible memories” of al-Nima.
London-based anti-Islamic extremism activist Maajid Nawaaz wrote a lengthy Facebook post ridiculing al-Nima and his misdeeds, along with images of the fanatic who can be seen immobilized due to his immense weight. “It is good that Syrians, Iraqis and others witness the debasement of this scum. That he is this obese, this immobile and this humiliated is yet another blow to IS imbeciles who thought God was with them.”
“Do not underestimate the psychological blow the image of this obese monster being arrested is to IS,” he further added.
However, Maajid cautioned towards the end that his post shouldn’t be used to mock obesity, but instead, the hypocrisy of Islamic extremists.
In another social media post, this time on Twitter, Bari was branded as “Jaba the Jihadi” by Macer Gifford from Britain, who earlier fought against ISIS alongside the Kurdish militia.
With inputs from ANI