Sharky Jama Death: Australian Ex-Model & DJ Killed In Syria While Fighting Alongside ISIS [PHOTO]
A former model and Australian DJ who reportedly joined the fight in Syria alongside ISIS forces has been killed.
Sharky Jama, 25, was allegedly killed whole fighting with militants, Hussein Harakow, president of the Somali Australian Council of Victoria told CNN. His parents were allegedly notified of his death on Monday via a text message and a phone cakll.
"They're very shocked and very disappointed," Harakow said.
Jama, alongside another Somali-Australian, former business student Yusuf Yusuf, both disappeared in August of last year, though Jama's parents had believed their son was in the Iraqi city of Falluja--making his death in Syria shocking, because they were unaware he had joined ISIS.
"He never explained what's happening over there or what he's doing," Harakow said. "The family lived a simple life. They never discussed these sorts of things."
Stephen Bucknall, director of Melbourne's FRM Model Management admitted his agency had severed tied with Jama after reports surfaces in December that he had joined the group.
"We were quite shocked to find out he had joined ISIS, and we immediately cut ties with him," he said. "He was a very likeable guy, very courteous, always came around with a smile. He had a great modeling career ahead of him. He always showed up at the agency ready to work on the runway, print and TV."
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott addressed the reports of Jama's death in a statement on Thursday, saying, "I have a very simple message for those who might be thinking of going overseas to join these terrorist groups. Don't."
"They are death cults...They are not about religion, they are just about death, and it's just as likely to be your death as anyone else's death," he added.
Jama's death comes as a report by the Lowy Institute, an Australian foreign policy think tank was published as saying the number of Australians fighting for ISIS represented a "serious national security threat" and posed a risk of an attack on home soil.
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop also said last month that at least 90 Australians were fighting with ISIS in both Iraq and Syria, and that at least 20 had been killed during the conflicts, including Jama and an 18-year-old Melbourne teenager, Jake Bilardi, who carried out an ISIS suicide assault in Ramadi in Iraq.
The Australians who have joined the fight with ISIS also include an additional 3,400 other people from other Western countries who have also been recruited to join the radicalized group.