Khaled Sharrouf: severed-head photos, Raqqa
On 11 August 2014 News Corp published a photo that reportedly came from the Twitter feed of Khaled Sharrouf, an Australian the ABC said "calls himself an Islamic State fighter". The ABC said it shows "a young boy, reported to be Sharrouf's seven-year-old son, holding the severed head of what is said to be a Syrian government soldier", and was posted with the caption "That's my boy". The BBC said the image was taken in Raqqa (it spells it "Raqa"), northern Syria.
Sharrouf had been jailed in 2009 for four years for being part of a cell planning attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. After his release he was banned from leaving the country but left on his brother's passport (BBC). Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the photo showed "just how barbaric this particular entity is" (BBC). Lebanese Muslim Association president Samier Dandan called it "an act of a lunatic" (ABC).
In a December 2017 report from Raqqa, the ABC described Naim Square, which IS used for public executions, and wrote: "It's where Australia's most notorious jihadist, Khaled Sharrouf photographed himself and his son holding up severed heads like gory trophies." In January 2026 the ABC described the square as "a place once dubbed the 'Roundabout of Hell'".
In February 2017 the ABC reported, citing national security sources, that Sharrouf had become "the first dual national to be stripped of their citizenship" under the federal anti-terror laws. A spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Peter Dutton confirmed that a person had lost citizenship but would not name them.
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