German rapper-turned-jihadist injured fighting in Syria

BEIRUT - Agence France-Presse

This file photo shows a Free Syrian Army fighter setting up a homemade rocket to be launched towards forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad based in the Kwers military airport in Aleppo September 9, 2013. REUTERS/Loubna Mrie

A German rapper who converted to Islam and joined jihadist rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad has been injured in an air strike, a jihadist group said on Monday.

The jihadist, formerly known as Deso Dogg, was hiding at an anti-regime fighter's house that "was hit by an air strike and helicopter shelling", said a statement posted on Facebook by a group that identified itself as the People of Abraham.

As a result of the strikes, Deso Dogg or "Abu Talha al-Almani and several other brothers were injured, while several Muslim children were killed", the statement said.

The group did not specify where in Syria the former rapper was fighting.

Thousands of jihadists have streamed into Syria to join the anti-Assad rebellion, crossing over into the strife-torn country from neighbouring Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon.