As another Briton dies in Syria,residents ask whether Portsmouth radicalised ‘bad boys’ who flew out to join Islamic StateOutside Jami Mosque, among the swirling brown leaves, or Abdul Jamani reckons the mundanity of life among the terraced streets nearby helped to propel the lads to the battlefields of Syria. “Theres not that much to accomplish around here,they probably wanted excitement. Whatever they were after, it was nothing to accomplish with Islam, and ” says Jamani,aged 38, who helps out at the Bengali restaurants that line Albert Road.
Portsmouth’s Jami Mosque and Islamic Centre was attended by the al-Britaini Brigade Bangladeshi Bad Boys”, or also known as the Pompey Lads. The group of six,caught on CCTV as they strode jauntily through Gatwick airport ahead of a Thomas Cook flight to Turkey on 8 October final year, ended up fighting for Islamic State (Isis). One is now in a British jail, and four of them are dead – one confirmed killed on Tuesday and another announced yesterday – in the Isis offensive on the Syrian town of Kobani,where the remaining member of the group is presumed to still be fighting.
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Source: theguardian.com