Indian-origin ISIS recruiter Neil Prakash killed

Melbourne: Australia’s most wanted Islamic State terror recruiter Neil Prakash, who is of Indian-origin, has been killed in a US military airstrike in war-torn Iraq, that authorities on Thursday said could disrupt the group’s ability to attract vulnerable people. Melbourne-born Prakash, also known as Abu Khaled al-Cambodi who was linked to several Australia-based attack plans and calls for lone-wolf attacks against the US, was killed in an airstrike in Mosul on April 29, Attorney-General George Brandis said, citing American inputs.

“Neil Prakash was the highest value target from an Australian point of view in the Middle East. He was the individual more than any other who had been actively inspiring and inciting domestic terrorism attacks within Australia,” the Senator said.

Brandis said Australian authorities were instrumental in providing US allies with the location of Prakash — the Australian of Fijian-Indian and Cambodian background — in Mosul. “Australia did cooperate with United States in relation to the identification and location of Prakash,”  he said.

Brandis said Prakash was “the most prominent and dangerous Australian” and had networks in both Melbourne and Sydney. “He was very actively involved in terrorism recruitment,” he added. Prakash’s death is considered significant in disrupting the militant group’s ability to lure fighters because of his highly prominent and influential role as a senior recruiter.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called Prakash’s death as a “very, very positive development.” “Neil Prakash’s death is a very, very positive development in the war against Daesh and the war against terror,” Turnbull was quoted as saying.