Photo: Khaled Sharrouf is believed to have been killed by a coalition air strike while driving near Raqqa in Syria. (Supplied)

Khaled Sharrouf, Australian terrorist, believed to have been killed near Raqqa

Exclusive by Dylan Welch and Suzanne Dredge

17 Aug 2017,

(Translation of this article appears in Arabic section)

The Federal Government has received credible information that Australia's most infamous terrorist, Khaled Sharrouf, has been killed in an air strike in the Middle East along with two of his young sons, 7.30 has learned.

Sharrouf and his sons, Abdullah, 12 and Zarqawi, 11, are believed to have been killed by a coalition air strike while driving near Islamic State's de facto Syrian capital Raqqa on Friday, August 11, according to government officials speaking on condition of anonymity.

7.30 is also aware one of Sharrouf's brothers has confirmed the death to a small group of Australian extremists via a message which said his brother and nephews were killed by the US-led coalition.

Photos of Sharrouf's corpse and the corpses of his sons have been seen by members of Australia's extremist community, a law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity told 7.30.

Border Protection Minister Peter Dutton told a press conference on Wednesday afternoon he could not confirm the deaths.

"It's always very difficult to confirm these reports, given that we're dealing with war zones in Syria and Iraq," he said.

"The point to make is that no Australian would mourn the loss of Khaled Sharrouf. He's a terrorist, he sought to harm Australians and, if he returned to our country, he would be a significant threat to the Australian public.

"Nobody would want to see Australian children die. Nobody would want to see any children die. But the fact is that Sharrouf and his wife took their children into a war zone. If they have been killed, what other outcome would they expect?"