ELIMINATED
- Full name: Soufiane Zerguit
- Pseudonym: Abu Mohammed, Abu Soumaya, Abu Gortex
- Alternatives: N/a
- Location: N/a
- Affiliation: Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh], Schilderswijk Jihadi Network [SJN], fmr Victory Front for the People of the Levant [JaNS]
Soufiane Zerguit (°1988) was a Dutch jihadi of North African descent from the Schilderswijk neighborhood of Den Haag. He became attracted to radical Salafism in the mid-2000s.1 In 2011, Pakistani security forces arrested Zerguit as he was en route to join jihadi forces in Afghanistan. After having spent several months in jail, Pakistan deported him back to the Netherlands.2
Back in Den Haag, Zerguit became a prominent figure in the Islamist community that had grown around his long-time friend Azzedine Choukoud.3 He also grew into a key member of the so-called Schilderswijk Jihadi Network [SJN] In late December 2013, Zerguit traveled to Syria and joined the Victory Front for the People of the Levant [JaNS; Jabhat al-Nusra li-Ahli ash-Sham].4 He switched his allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh; Dawlat al-Islamiya fi-Iraq wal ash-Sham] in 2014.5 Zerguit was very active on social media and enthusiastically reported on life as a jihadi.6
On Jan. 22, 2015, Zerguit was eliminated in an American air strike during fighting between DaIISh forces and Kurdish fighters at Kobane.7 In October 2015, a Dutch court halted proceedings against him after reports of his death were confirmed.8
References