Valdet Gashi

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Valdet Enver Gashi (born April 10, 1986 in Pristina , SFR Yugoslavia ; † July 4, 2015 in Syria ) was a German Thai boxer of Albanian origin and two-time world champion in the super-lightweight division, who was part of the Islamic State terrorist organization from the beginning of 2015 (IS) belonged to.

Life

Gashi came to Germany with his family as a Kosovar Albanian refugee at the age of six. His father had been a policeman back home, and Gashi had two younger brothers. He grew up in Neumarkt in the Upper Palatinate , where he did kickboxing and muay thai and was also a passionate Albanian folk dancer (Vallet shqiptare) before devoting himself exclusively to sport. He finished secondary school, but had no professional training.

Valdet Gashi achieved most successes as an athlete as a Muay Thai fighter. He traveled to Thailand several times to train and take part in fights and sporting events. Gashi trained regularly with the fight club elite in Bangkok, where he was considered a respected foreign fighter. He developed into a role model and media star. Elite Boxing TV produced a 45 minute documentary about Valdet Gashi.

Gashi fought in Thailand for about 4½ years and in more than 106 events. He also fought in other countries including Malaysia, South Korea, China and Iran.

Gashi met his future wife in Thailand. He married her after she converted to Islam. The connection resulted in two daughters. The family lived together in Singen , Baden-Württemberg.

Islamic fundamentalism and death report

In Winterthur (Switzerland) Valdet Gashi conducted combat training according to Muslim rules. Young participants in the training, whom he is said to have recruited, later joined the IS.

In January 2015, Gashi left Germany and became a member of the Islamic State in Syria. He initially hid his whereabouts from his family, claiming he was on a martial arts mission in Thailand. By his own account, Gashi was not actively involved in fighting in the Islamic State, but only wanted to help build the caliphate.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Gashi wanted to leave for Germany at the end of June, but was detained by IS and taken to a camp. His brother said that on June 26, 2015, Valdet called in and said he was going to rescue civilians from Kobane . A few days later, a stranger called him on his brother's phone in English and said that Valdet had died in an American air raid on Kobane on June 27, 2015. A farewell letter had also been sent to him. On July 4, 2015, Gashi was officially declared dead.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Winterthur IS fighter is dead. In: Tages-Anzeiger of July 7, 2015, accessed on September 19, 2017.
  2. ↑ Margit Hufnagel: Valdet Gashi: The IS fighter from Hegau , Südkurier , June 12, 2015
  3. ↑ Did Thai boxer Valdet Gashi make the IS regime an enemy? , Der Landbote , July 7, 2015, accessed July 20, 2015
  4. ↑ IS catches German kickboxers trying to escape , Rheinische Post , July 9, 2015
  5. ↑ Doubts about Valdet Gashi's death - Did he want to flee from IS? , Südkurier , July 9, 2015, accessed July 20, 2015
  6. ↑ Valdet Gashi: Is the kickboxer and IS fighter still alive? , Augsburger Allgemeine , July 10, 2015
  7. ↑ Alexander Reynolds: From German Thai boxing star to IS fighter: The enigmatic story of Valdet Gashi. VICE Sports, October 24, 2016, accessed February 22, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Gashi, Valdet
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gashi, Valdet Enver (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Thai boxer and Islamist
DATE OF BIRTH April 10, 1986
PLACE OF BIRTH Pristina , SFR Yugoslavia
DATE OF DEATH 4th July 2015
Place of death Syria