Yago Riedijk (Jihadi Militant, Netherlands)

• Full name: Yago Riedijk
• Pseudonym: N/a
• Alternatives: N/a
• Location: Syria, fmr Netherlands
• Affiliation: Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh]

Yago Riedijk (°1992) is a Dutch convert to Islam and jihadi militant from the Laar suburb Arnhem. He grew up in a stable middle-class family and reportedly converted to Islam after becoming inspired by jihadi propaganda on the internet.¹ In October 2014, Riedijk traveled to Syria and linked up with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh; Dawlat al-Islamiya fi-Iraq wal ash-Sham].² He was given military training upon arrival.³ Little is known about his role in the organization, although Riedijk likely served as a combatant. The Dutchman was also said to have been an assistant to an unidentified senior figure of the DaIISh. Other sources have suggested that he was in contact with jihadis planning an attack in the Netherlands.⁴ None of this has been corroborated. His presence was attested at Kobani, Raqqa and Deir az-Zour in the mid-to-late 2010s.⁵ Riedijk reportedly got injured in an air strike at one point.⁶ He is mainly known for having married then fifteen-year-old Shamima Begun after she had traveled from Britain to Syria and joined the DaIISh in 2015.⁷

In the summer of 2018, Riedijk was sentenced in absentia to a six-year prison term by a Dutch court.⁸ He and his wife remained loyal to the DaIISh as its fortunes turned in the late 2010s. They were holed up in the organization’s last Syrian stronghold of Baghouz by early 2019.⁹ The couple surrendered to Kurdish forces in February 2019.¹⁰ Their three children all died of disease and malnutrition.¹¹ Riedijk gave several interviews to European journalists while in Kurdish custody. He gave conflicting statements and refused to elaborate on his role within the DaIISh.¹²​