Baladi News
A British ISIS fanatic nicknamed “Hungry Hamza” has been captured in Syria — but he’s still looking for the nearest McDonald’s, according to a new report.
Hamza Parvez, also known as Abu Hamza al-Britani, of West London, first joined the Islamic State about five years ago, according to the Washington Post. In his early days with the caliphate, he was known for his pudginess, and social media posts about fast food and kittens.
His posts began to decrease as the Islamic State’s territory shrank, according to the report, and his fate was long unknown.
But last month, Parvez was among 50 Brits who surrendered to Kurdish-led forces outside the terror group’s former stronghold of Baghouz.
He lost 66 pounds during his time with the terror group, according to the report.
During an interview with the paper at a northern Syria prison, surrounded by armed guards, he had one question for a reporter.
“You don’t have to tell me what city I’m in,” Parvez said. “But can I ask: Is there a McDonald’s here?”
He also spoke of the living conditions in Baghouz, an encampment of tents that he called the “crumbs of ISIS.”
“There was a complete collapse of social and economic rule. People referred to it as Dar al-Kuffar,” he told the paper, using an Arabic term referring to land ruled by nonbelievers.
“There was food, but it was only for the big fish of the Islamic State. I held children in my hands who were dying because there was no food.”
With his fate uncertain, Parvez, who was wearing loose-fitting prison garments, told the outlet he regretted his decision to join ISIS.
“Regret is not even the word,” he said. “If there was a stronger word, I would use it.”
“What happened was completely horrific,” he added. “I don’t think we should ever allow anything or anyone to take Islam as a religion and for them to manipulate it … and to shape it the way that they shaped it.”
Source: New York Post.