DECEASED
- Full name: Mohab Mostafa Sayid Kassem
- Pseudonym: N/a
- Alternatives: Mohab Mostafa, Mohammed al-Qasssem, “Doctor”
- Location: Egypt
- Affiliation: Islamic State in Egypt – Ibrahim & Kassem Network [DaIM-IKN], fmr Islamic State’s Province of Sinai [DaIWS], fmr Partisans of the Holy House [ABaM]
Mohab Kassem (º1986) is a former medical doctor from Qahira who became a Salafi extremist somewhere in the mid-2000s.1 Following the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, he became involved in Islamist politics. Kassem initially backed Salafi politician Hazem Abu Ismail, but later supported Muslim Brotherhood president Mohammed Morsi.2 Kassem participated in the massive sit-in protests by supporters of the president in the Egyptian capital following the July 2013 army coup.3 During this time, he allegedly came into contact with Mohammed Kamal and Brotherhood leaders who had fled to Qatar.4
In the wake of the crackdown on the Islamists, Kassem joined the Partisans of the Holy House [ABaM; Ansar Bait al-Maqdis].5 Like the rest of the group, Kassem eventually swore allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh; Dawlat al-Islamiya fi-Iraq wal ash-Sham] and actively propagated for the organization.6
In a failed bid to reach Syria and join the DaIISh, Kassem traveled to Qatar in 2015.7 He later returned to Egypt and linked up with the Islamic State’s Province of Sinai [DaIWS; Dawlat al-Islamiya Wilayat Sina’a].8 During his time in the Sinai, Kassem learned to make bombs.9
Kassem later traveled to Qahira where he set up a cell of the Islamic State in Egypt – Ibrahim & Kassem Network [DaIM-IKN] in the capital’s Zeitun suburb.10 He provided ideological instruction and arranged training for his followers.11 Kassem organized the December 2016 suicide bombing attack at a church in Qahira.12 Following the attack, Kassem became one of Egypt’s most wanted men. To date, he has managed to evade arrest by security forces, but many of Kassem’s associates, including his brother, have since been apprehended.13
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