Denis Cuspert

Denis Mamadou Gerhard Cuspert (18 October 1975 – 17 January 2018), also known by his stage name Deso Dogg and his nom de guerre Abu Talha al-Almani (Arabic: أبو طلحة الألماني), was a German rapper who became a member of the Islamic State. Cuspert ended his rap career in 2010, converted to Islam and took on the new Islamic name Abou Maleeq (Arabic: أبو طلحة). He left Germany in 2012 for Egypt and Libya, eventually going to Syria in 2013, where he fought with jihadist anti-government forces in the Syrian Civil War, under the nom de guerre of Abu Talha Al-Almani (meaning Abu Talha the German). He was wounded during fighting in the northern-Syrian town of Azaz in an air-strike conducted by the Syrian Arab Air Force. In 2014, he gave his oath of allegiance to Islamist-Jihadi group the Islamic State (IS). The United States Department of State added Cuspert to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists on 9 February 2015, and the United Nations Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee designated him on 11 February 2015. In January 2018, the Wafa' Media Foundation announced his death during clashes in the town of Gharanij.