Jihadist who posted photo of son holding up heads of Syrian victims reportedly killed

Australian jihadist Khaled Sharrouf horrified the world last year when he had his seven-year-old son photographed holding up severed heads of Syrian victims.

Now, reports that Sharrouf has been killed fighting in Iraq have raised the potential for his young family to be repatriated from the Middle East, Australia's foreign minister said yesterday.

Australian intelligence agencies were attempting to verify the recent deaths of Sharrouf and fellow Australian militant Mohamed Elomar in the Islamic State-held city of Mosul in Iraq, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said.

Fairfax Media newspapers reported last month that the Australian family of Sharrouf's Muslim-convert wife, Tara Nettleton, was trying to help her bring her three young boys and two teenage daughters from Syria home to Sydney.

Both men have been seen in photographs posted on social media holding up the heads of Syrians. But it was a photo of Sharrouf's son that ensured his father's infamy, when the little boy held up the severed head of a Syrian soldier by the hair.

Dressed like any other youngster in blue checked trousers, a blue shirt and baseball cap, the picture of the child was captioned: "That's my boy".

US Secretary of State John Kerry described it as "one of the most disturbing, stomach-turning, grotesque photographs ever displayed".