A British extremist and right-hand man to Australia's top Islamic State recruiter, Neil Prakash, has refused to confirm whether the Melbourne man is dead.
And as their numbers continue to dwindle, a close-knit group of Islamic State operatives with links to Prakash has vowed to avenge the death of one of his close friends, who had also made threats against Australia.
Authorities are unable to confirm whether Prakash is in fact dead following reports last week of his demise in Syria, while one of his closest associates, who along with Prakash was on a US kill list, is very much alive and active.
The British man, Raphael Hostey, has been in contact with AAP in the past week, and as recently as Tuesday refused to confirm reports of the Australian's death.
Hostey, also known as Abu Qaqa al-Britani, has previously described Prakash as his "co-worker" in terms of recruitment, while Prakash has given Hostey the same billing.
Both men were close friends of another British extremist - Junaid Hussain - killed last year in a US air strike near the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa.
Hussain, known by the nome-de-guerre Abu Hussain al-Britani, was also on the so-called kill list.
He was killed on August 24, two weeks after posting online an Islamic State hit list which included the names of Australian Defence Force employees and a Victorian MP, accompanied by a call for lone-wolf supporters to strike.
The list contained the names of more than 1400 people, most of whom were US military personnel.
In a message accompanying the list, Hussain wrote: "They have us on their 'hit list', and we have them on ours too."
The 21-year-old was a key member of the Islamic State hacking group which called itself Cyber Caliphate, and previously the Islamic State Hacking Division.
Now rebranded as Caliphate Cyber Army, the hacking group has vowed revenge for the death of Hussain, issuing a threat via the Islamic State's official channel on the encrypted service Telegram.
The image, which carries the hacking handles of the group's members and pictures of Islamic State fighters, includes headlines with the words "Gazwa", which appears to be a reference to battles in which the Prophet Mohammed participated, and "Revenge", under which is the name "Abu Hussain".
Share
