Australia's most wanted IS recruiter 'killed in airstrike'

Australia's most wanted Islamic State (IS) recruiter who called on his countrymen to "start attacking before they attack you", has died in a US airstrike.

Neil Prakash was the country's "most prominent" IS recruiter and its "highest value target", Australian Attorney General George Brandis announced on Thursday.

"He was the individual more than any other who had been actively inspiring and inciting domestic terrorism attacks within Australia," Brandis said in an interview with Sky News.

Prakesh was killed on April 29 in Mosul, Iraq, Brandis said.

He had been linked to several plans to attack his homeland and called for lone-wolf strikes against the US.

The IS recruiter also appeared in propaganda videos in English, in which he told his personal story, exhorted his countryman to "rise up" and invited them to join the self-proclaimed Islamic State's caliphate in Iraq and Syria.

Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull told Sky News Australia that Prakash had been a target for some time. He also warned other Australians that if they go and choose to fight with the IS, they could meet the same fate.

"They will be targeted. They are waging war against Australia and they are enemies of Australia once they choose to wage that war in those theatres," Turnbull said.

Attorney General Brandis also announced the death of another Australian citizen in an air strike in Syria on April 22.

Brandis said Shadi Jabar Khalil Mohammad was an active recruiter of foreign fighters for IS.

--IANS

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