Anjem Choudary’s bodyguard who became an ISIS executioner is killed in Syria

Anjem Choudary’s poppy-burning bodyguard who became an Islamic State executioner has been killed in Syria.

Mohammed Reza Haque, known as the Jihadi Giant due to his 6ft 6in frame, fled the UK in 2014 and survived until the final days of the so-called IS ‘caliphate’.

‘He died, either in the final battle of Baghouz, or from his injuries shortly afterwards’, a security source told the Mail.

It is believed his wife was killed at around the same time.

Haque, 39, was a devout follower of hate preacher Choudary since at least 2011. He was pictured acting as a bodyguard for him at demonstrations in London.

Haque (centre) and fellow extremists chanted ‘burn British soldiers, burn in hell’ as crowds observed a two-minute silence nearby. Haque was charged with a public order offence following the incident – but was cleared due to lack of evidence

He is also said to have had links to Khuram Butt, ringleader of the London Bridge terror attack in 2017.

Before travelling to Syria, Haque was seen at several Islamist rallies, and in 2010 was filmed burning large plastic poppies near the Royal Albert Hall on Remembrance Sunday.

Haque and fellow extremists chanted ‘burn British soldiers, burn in hell’ as crowds observed a two-minute silence nearby.

Haque was charged with a public order offence following the incident – but was cleared due to lack of evidence.

Originally from Bethnal Green, east London, Haque reached Syria despite being on the radar of MI5 and anti-terrorist police.

He is then believed to have encouraged others to follow his lead and leave Britain to join IS.

Mohammed Reza Haque, known as the Jihadi Giant due to his 6ft 6in frame, fled the UK in 2014 and survived until the final days of the so-called IS ‘caliphate’

In January 2016, he was identified as one of five masked jihadis in an IS propaganda film. The men executed five alleged spies by shooting them in the back of the head in a Syrian desert. 

Haque resurfaced again in December 2016 when another IS film showed him beheading a terrified captive.

The footage led to him being described as the ‘new Jihadi John’ due to his similarity to the murderer, also from London, who beheaded five Western hostages.

Jihadi John (real name Mohammed Emwazi) was responsible for the deaths of two Britons – David Haines, 44, and Alan Henning, 47 – as well as three Americans. He was killed by a US drone strike on Raqqa in November 2015.

Experts believe Haque subsequently took over from Emwazi as one of IS’s chief executioners. 

In the December film, he appeared with four other jihadis and five kneeling men who had been accused of spying.

One of the unidentified jihadis said in Arabic: ‘They thought they were safe, but God shamed them, and they will be slaughtered by the knife which will slaughter those like them.’ 

Haque resurfaced again in December 2016 when another IS film showed him beheading a terrified captive

Haque and the others in the video then grabbed each victim by the hair and beheaded them.

Security experts have warned that his old friend Choudary continues to inspire a network of extremists. 

They fear he poses a renewed terror threat a year after his early release from jail.

The ‘unrepentant’ father of five is now back at his home in east London – the site from which he previously led an extremist network which helped to radicalise a string of terrorists, including Lee Rigby’s killers Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale.

Choudary was freed last October after serving under half of his five-and-a-half year sentence for inviting support for IS.