Irish Islamic State fighter ‘Khalid Kelly’ kills himself in Iraq suicide bombing

An Irish former altar boy has become the latest suicide bomber to blow himself up as part of Islamic State’s furious defence of Mosul , its last major stronghold in Iraq.

Khalid Kelly, born Terrence Edward in south Dublin in 1967, converted to Islam when serving a jail term in Saudi Arabia for illegally brewing home-made alcohol. He was known in Iraq by the nom de guerre Abu Usama al-Irlandi – a reference to his eldest son and homeland.

Pictures of him standing with a rifle, hand-held radio and baseball cap in front of a suicide attack vehicle, circulated on social media soon after the attack. He was reportedly near the city of Tel Afar, west of Mosul on the route to Syria, where IS is under attack from Shia militias allied to Baghdad. The Site intelligence group, which tracks militant websites, said IS had issued a statement about Kelly’s suicide attack and including a picture of the Irishman.

IS has become expert in welding steel plates to “suicide vehicles”, from jeeps to bulldozers, to create improvised armour so they can drive towards enemy positions under fire. Kelly appears to have used one of those vehicles.

There were no details of who was targeted in the attack, one of dozens launched by IS fighters trying to slow the progress of Iraqi and Kurdish forces towards their last major stronghold in Iraq.

The attacks have taken a heavy toll in some areas, but have not halted the advance of a broad coalition backed by US air power, which has already taken several districts in the eastern outskirts of Mosul and is advancing on several other fronts.