The oldest IS fighter is from China

The Islamic State (IS) recently revealed that its oldest gunman is an 80-year-old man from China.

According to the Daily Mail, this elderly gunman, with an old face and white hair and beard, suddenly appeared in a recent IS propaganda video.

The man, whose Muslim name is Muhammed Amin, said he fled the country with his family after watching a video of his son, who was also a jihadist, being killed in Syria.

Image of 80-year-old IS gunman. (Photo: Daily Mail)

Mr Armin is believed to be a member of the Uyghur Muslim ethnic minority in China's northwestern Xinjiang autonomous region.

In some scenes, Mr. Armin is seen wearing combat gear, holding an AK-47 and operating a heavy artillery piece. He said he was in training and had not yet participated in direct combat.

Despite his age, the gunman said he still fully participated in training such as crawling, running, and rolling. "After receiving the weapon, I asked to join the battle, but I was not allowed, so now I am at the base," said Mr. Armin.

In the same propaganda video, viewers also witnessed children in an IS school singing about “martyrdom.” The children all wore hats with IS symbols printed on them. Notably, one child made a threat aimed at China.

Children in an IS school. (Photo: Daily Mail)

Anthony Glees, director of the Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies at the University of Buckingham, said the footage in the video could be aimed at Uighurs.

“This is clearly a call to Muslims everywhere,” he said. “The whole point of the video is that ISIS is fighting a reverse crusade: Muslims from all over the world are coming to fight for the caliphate.”

“This video will certainly have an impact on Chinese security officials,” said Director Glees.

Earlier this year, Chinese authorities warned that many Muslims in Xinjiang were secretly traveling to Syria or Iraq to join IS, and that if they returned home, they could become a terrorist threat.

(According to VNN)