War on terror

France’s most wanted Isis fighter killed in Iraq leaves final message accusing his leaders of hypocrisy

One of France’s most wanted jihadis is thought to have been killed in a US air strike near the Isis-controlled city of Mosul in Iraq, both the Pentagon and social media channels used by Isis have confirmed. 

Rachid Kassim, born in Roanne in 1987 to an Algerian mother and Yemeni father, was a high profile recruiter for the extremist group, encouraging attacks and linking up radicalised teenagers via his Telegram and Facebook accounts. 

The French authorities suspect him of coordinating the 2016 knife killings of a French police officer and his wife in their home, and the beheading of a priest.  He has been connected to several other failed plots.