Tweet
HE weighs more than 200kg. Big belly. Big arms. Big reputation.
Over his shoulder he carries a weapon so large it’s normally mounted to a vehicle before it can be fired.
On his face he wears a mask to conceal his identity — but he is unmistakable.
People know him as “The Bulldozer of Fallujah” and he’s the world’s most feared terror group’s biggest weapon.
Until this week, the unnamed member of Islamic State tried to blend into the background. His exploits are now front and centre after his treatment of a 14-year-old boy named Omar.
On Omar’s phone are pictures of The Bulldozer. There are also pictures of his own cut-off hand and foot.
In an interview, the teen, whose name has been changed, told a story that haunts him and has left him so devastated he has “given up on life”.
HOW I CAME FACE-TO-FACE WITH THE BULLDOZER
Omar was in Syria fighting with the Free Syrian Army when things went terribly wrong.
He was running ammunition and food to fighters made up of defected Syrian Armed Forces officers and everyday civilians.
Islamic State moved in on Deir Ezzor province, according to Channel 4, and Omar was captured. He was transferred to the Iraqi city of Mosul and offered a chance at freedom. The cost? Joining the death cult.
When Omar refused, they decided to teach him a lesson.
“I was strung up and tortured for a month and a half,” the teen said. “They were saying ‘Why don’t you pledge allegiance to Islamic State? Why don’t you fight against the non-Muslims with us?’ But they are slaughtering Muslims.”
He said IS made a show out of torturing him. The show would turn bloody and change his life forever when The Bulldozer moved in.
“They gathered the people, they tied down my hand and my leg, they put my hand on a wooden block and cut it off with a butcher’s knife,” Omar told Channel 4.
“Then they cut off my foot and put them both in front of me for me to see.”
Months later, hobbling around his home with bandages covering the ends of his limbs, Omar says he has lost all hope.
“I have given up on life.”
Over his shoulder he carries a weapon so large it’s normally mounted to a vehicle before it can be fired.
On his face he wears a mask to conceal his identity — but he is unmistakable.
People know him as “The Bulldozer of Fallujah” and he’s the world’s most feared terror group’s biggest weapon.
Until this week, the unnamed member of Islamic State tried to blend into the background. His exploits are now front and centre after his treatment of a 14-year-old boy named Omar.
On Omar’s phone are pictures of The Bulldozer. There are also pictures of his own cut-off hand and foot.
In an interview, the teen, whose name has been changed, told a story that haunts him and has left him so devastated he has “given up on life”.
HOW I CAME FACE-TO-FACE WITH THE BULLDOZER
Omar was in Syria fighting with the Free Syrian Army when things went terribly wrong.
He was running ammunition and food to fighters made up of defected Syrian Armed Forces officers and everyday civilians.
Islamic State moved in on Deir Ezzor province, according to Channel 4, and Omar was captured. He was transferred to the Iraqi city of Mosul and offered a chance at freedom. The cost? Joining the death cult.
When Omar refused, they decided to teach him a lesson.
“I was strung up and tortured for a month and a half,” the teen said. “They were saying ‘Why don’t you pledge allegiance to Islamic State? Why don’t you fight against the non-Muslims with us?’ But they are slaughtering Muslims.”
He said IS made a show out of torturing him. The show would turn bloody and change his life forever when The Bulldozer moved in.
“They gathered the people, they tied down my hand and my leg, they put my hand on a wooden block and cut it off with a butcher’s knife,” Omar told Channel 4.
“Then they cut off my foot and put them both in front of me for me to see.”
Months later, hobbling around his home with bandages covering the ends of his limbs, Omar says he has lost all hope.
“I have given up on life.”
Comment