World Thai boxing champion from Germany now fights for ISIS
MAINZ, Germany – Valdet Gashi, a 29-year-old German kickboxer and two-time Muay Thai world champion, has joined the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria.
Swiss TV channel SRF reported Wednesday that Gashi, a martial arts champion with Albanian roots, had left his home in Germany earlier this year without telling anyone of his destination.
The father of two daughters had reportedly also recruited Swiss youngsters for ISIS, before joining up with the militants himself about six months ago, including a young Kurd.
The martial arts champion tagged himself in Thailand in a Facebook photo post in February, asking his friends and family not to worry, leading them to believe that he was on a vacation trip.
The next month, he was in another photograph, posing in front of the black ISIS flag, causing public indignation after it was reported in European media. Many people demanded that he repudiate his sympathies for ISIS.
“I distance myself from any accusations of me sympathizing with banned groups or sects. I don’t belong to any extreme, radical or terrorist organization,” he said in March 10 Facebook post.
But in mid-May, he did an about-face.
During a 90-minute phone interview with Swiss journalists, he said: “I want to do something good and to die while doing it. That is what would make me happy.”
He went on to tell the journalists that his understanding of the ISIS ideology had lately deepened, and he understood the group much better.
It has also emerged that Gashi had trained several youngsters from Winterthur, in Switzerland, who later joined ISIS. Most were underage, except for a 20-year-old Kurd known as Muhammad al-Kurdi, who was killed by Kurdish forces in Syria several weeks ago.
Alan Omer, a Kurdish professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter from Germany, said: “I’ve been in the MMA world for quite a while now and I know that some fighters are not quite kosher. Therefore, the reports about him are not that surprising to me.”
Gashi’s father, Enver, said on Swiss TV: “I want him to stop this nonsense and I hope he’ll come back to us one day, because his place is here and nowhere else.”
He explicitly mentioned his son’s daughters and wife, perhaps hoping to appeal to the Muay Thai champion emotionally.
Hekuran Gashi, apparently a relative of the kickboxer-turned-militant, appealed directly in his Facebook post: “Come back brother,” he wrote. “Your family needs you more than anything else! This war is about money and oil anyways! You are a great fighter, you can gain way more! Come and make us proud again with your talent! Come back!!!”
But all the appeals seem to have failed. On Wednesday, Gashi posted: “Feeling determined. There will be a longer and more intensive report about the things I do.”
Gashi’s Facebook page provides an interesting insight into his transformation. He goes from a successful sportsman, with friends talking about alcohol and partying in older videos, into an extremist posing for the world’s most notorious terrorist organization.