Australian ISIS fighter 'Dr. Jihad' found alive in Iraqi prison after decade presumed dead

An Australian man, Tareq Kamleh, who was presumed to have died over a decade ago after joining the Islamic State group, has been discovered alive in a high-security prison in Baghdad. The Australian newspaper reported the finding on Tuesday.

Kamleh, who gained notoriety online as "Dr. Jihad," was believed to have perished during the 2017 siege of Raqqa. According to the report, his survival of that conflict was detailed in court documents. He is currently undergoing interrogation by Iraq's elite counter-terrorism judiciary.

Kamleh is one of 13 Australian men detained in Iraqi prisons on suspicion of ISIS membership. He is also under investigation in Australia for terrorism-related offenses, including joining and recruiting for a banned terrorist organization. Angus Taylor, Australia's opposition leader, has called for Kamleh to be permanently barred from returning to the country.

Kamleh, born in Perth in 1985 to a Palestinian father and a German mother, traveled to Syria in 2015. After graduating with a medical degree from the University of Adelaide in 2010, he worked as a doctor in Australia before joining ISIS. He appeared in several propaganda videos for the group, at one point seen in medical attire cradling infants and at another in a cave holding an AK47. Following his arrival in Syria, he served as a field medic for ISIS, moving to various territories controlled by the group after surviving the Raqqa siege. He was later identified in Iraq by his codename, "Abu Yusuf al-Australi."