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Australian reported dead in "horrific" IS suicide bombings

Xinhua, March 12, 2015 Adjust font size:

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said the reported death of a Melbourne teenager in an Islamic State (IS) suicide bombing is an "absolutely horrific situation."

Jake Bilardi, who was identified on Monday having been pictured with two other IS members in December last year, was reportedly involved in a terror-related suicide attack in the Iraqi city of Ramadi on Wednesday.

The 18-year-old was pictured in a photo on social media sitting in the driver's seat of a van that would later be one of 12 to attack the Anbar province in Iraq, killing 17 people and injuring a further 38 others, according to local police.

Although Bilardi's death or his part in the suicide bombings have not yet been confirmed, Abbott remarked that the situation highlights the dangers of young Australians being lured to join IS militants in Iraq and Syria.

"This is a horrific situation, an absolutely horrific situation, " Abbott told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday.

"It's very, very important that we do everything we can to try to safeguard our young people against the lure of this shocking, alien and extreme ideology."

Bilardi was identified as the teenager previously known by authorities as the "White Jihadi" on Monday. That had followed a photo from December, posted on social media, showing him sitting in front of the IS flag holding a rifle with two other members of the militant group.

It has been reported that he was known within the extremist group as "Abu Abdullah al-Australi." Endi