Dutch suicide bomber's video testament surfaces
A video testament by the 19 year old Sultan Berzel from Maastricht has confirmed that he was indeed the jihadist Abu Abdulla al-Hollandi who performed the suicide bombing in Baghdad on November 12th. Terrorist organisation Islamic State (ISIS) posted the video online yesterday. The video has since been suspended from the site.
In the video, which is about 5 minutes long, Berzel reads verses from the Koran. With a Limburg accent he says that Allah distances himself from "all Muslims who live and eat and drink among the unbelievers". He states that Allah supports the ISIS-caliphate and martyrdom operations and calls on his brothers to follow his example.
The video ends with a message in Arabic and Dutch stating that Abu Abdullah al-Hollandi has mingled among the enemy. "He moved to a police headquarters in Baghdad, where a group of the military unit was located. After the calling of takbir (Allah is great), he pressed the button of his bomb-vest, exploded with the result that the enemy was shattered." According to ISIS, more than 20 officers died and dozens were injured in the attack. Berzel is the third Dutchman to perform a suicide bombing for ISIS. Earlier this year the General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) reported that two Dutch fighters had been involved in suicide attacks, one in Syria, the other in Iraq. Sultan's father, Abdelsamed Berzel, and mother watched their son's video testament last night. "What should I say? My son has already spoken. Thank Allah, my son is now in paradise", he said resignedly. Just before the bomb attack in Baghdad, he had a telephonic conversation with his son which gave him the impression that his son was preparing to die. In November Abessamed Berzel appeared on L1 to tell his son's story and hopefully prevent the same thing happening to other teenagers. Berzel and his 19 year old friend Rezkan traveled to Syria in September. Rezkan was seriously injured in a battle for a military airbase in the city of Deir al-Zour on December 19th. A fellow soldier told his parents that their son was taken to a hospital and died a short time later. Berzel and Rezkan are from the Maastricht area Wittevrouwenveld, from where about 6 to 8 young people have left for Syria. One of them was the 19 year old Aicha, who went to marry the Turkish-Dutch jihadist Yilmaz earlier this year. After months of fruitless searching, Aicha's mother Monique finally brought her back from Syria in November. Aicha and Sultan went to the same schools and knew each other well.
