Dr Jihad's close ties with Australia's last ISIS bride - after he married into caliphate family with notorious sister-in-law accused of stealing kids

Published: 06:23, 29 July 2026 | Updated: 06:27, 29 July 2026 A Perth doctor who became an Islamic State poster boy after leaving Australia to join the terror group has 'very close' ties to an ISIS bride seeking to return home with her disabled daughter.  In 2015, Tareq Kamleh told his parents he was going on holiday to Melbourne but was soon seen in propaganda videos wearing surgical scrubs and holding babies, urging other medical professionals to join him in Syria. He was presumed to have been killed in 2017 during the final battle of Raqqa, but an investigation by The Australian earlier this month revealed he was alive and imprisoned in an Iraqi jail. It was then revealed this week that Kamleh has ties with Australia's last remaining 'ISIS bride' Hodan Abby. Abby, originally from western Sydney, recently cleared a legal hurdle allowing her to return to Australia after the government lifted a temporary exclusion order that barred her from entering the country for two years. She was reportedly known as a 'judge' or 'enforcer' of sharia law inside Syria's al-Roj refugee camp, where 34 Australian women and children linked to Islamic State were housed while awaiting repatriation. The 29-year-old has also been accused of beating a Yazidi slave allegedly purchased by her husband, who was allegedly raped after being taken captive at the age of nine or 10.  According to an ABC report, which quoted a security source from the al-Roj camp, Abby is 'very close' to a highly radicalised family that Kamleh, now 41, married into.  Perth-born doctor Tareq Kamleh abandoned Australia in 2015 and became an ISIS poster boy He was presumed dead for almost a decade before reports emerged that he was alive in an Iraqi jail  His sister-in-law Khadra Essa (pictured) is a notorious militant who also has 'very close' ties to Australia's last remaining ISIS bride, Hodan Abby  Kamleh's wife Amina is the sister of Somali-Dutch militant Khadra Essa, who remains on the run over a $7million kidnapping plot. According to an FBI arrest warrant, Essa allegedly commanded an all-female sharia law battalion, condoned suicide attacks in multiple countries and ordered the murders of women and girls across Syria and Iraq. Khadra is also wanted over the alleged disappearance of two young American siblings, Yusuf and Zahra Shikder. She allegedly took them after their mother died in a military strike against ISIS forces in 2019.  The children had originally been taken to Syria without the knowledge of their father, who remains in the US. 'Additionally, she has taught ISIS extremist ideology that justified suicide operations and killing of civilians and has recruited new members for ISIS,' the US State Department said.  While it is unclear what role Kamleh's wife Amina played in the all-female battalion, she is suspected of involvement before being repatriated to the Netherlands to face trial on terrorism offences.  'She was a radical Somali woman and her sister was involved in the disappearance of two children who I was looking for without success,' former US diplomat Peter Galbraith told The Australian. '(Amina) was probably involved too.' Essa remains on the run and is wanted by the FBI for allegedly commanding an all-female battalion  Essa is also suspected of abducting two American children, Yusuf and Zahra, in 2019  Now that Kamleh has been found alive, authorities are being urged to question him about the whereabouts of his sister-in-law  In 2021, Mr Galbraith helped rescue Kamleh's then eight-year-old stepdaughter, who was being hidden by her mother inside the Roj camp. 'The Essa family not only adhere to an extreme form of ISIS ideology, but they are participants and significant actors in crimes that are part of ISIS, that is to say, kidnapping and hiding children among other things,' he said. What the disgraced doctor knew about his family's activities remains unclear, but Mr Galbraith said he hopes authorities will question Kamleh about the whereabouts of his sister-in-law.  Kamleh is one of 13 Australian men linked to ISIS who could be released from prison and return to Australia, despite his previous vow to never come back to the country. He is wanted by the Australian Federal Police under an active warrant for terrorism offences, including allegedly joining and recruiting for a banned organisation.  The Albanese government is facing urgent calls to block Kamleh's return but has said it has limited powers available to prevent him if he wishes to do so. If he does return, he is likely to be arrested on terrorism offences.  Abby faces a similar situation and is reportedly reconsidering her return to Australia after other ISIS brides were arrested and charged following their return flights.  ISIS bride Hodan Abby was reportedly known as an 'enforcer' of sharia law inside the al-Roj camp, where 34 Australian women and children linked to the terror group were housed During an appearance on ABC News Breakfast earlier this month, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke addressed the former ban on Abby returning to Australia. 'There is a reason why only one (bride) met the threshold for an exclusion order,' he said. 'Anybody who made a decision to go and join ISIS made an absolutely horrific decision and we've got no interest in doing anything to help any of them back but certainly if you also reach the threshold of exclusion order then... you are in a different situation to the rest of the cohort.' Abby was originally stopped from boarding a flight to Australia with a group of women in May, but she was issued with a return permit last month.  Burke confirmed that authorities were aware of her activities and were actively monitoring her location.  Australia has seen the return of several groups of ISIS brides in the past six months, including two cohorts comprising at least a dozen women and children linked to the terrorist organisation.  Eight orphaned children came back to Australia under Scott Morrison's government in 2019. Four women and 13 children were then allowed into the country by the Albanese government three years later.