‘Islamic State United’: Former Football Player Joins ISIL

Former professional football player from Kazakhstan joined the ranks of Islamic State.

Aibek Gubaidullin, a former captain of the Kazakh football club Akzhayik, decided to fight on the side of Islamic State and traveled to Syria, local Kazakh news agency Mgorod.kz reported.

According to the source, a police statement says:

"On January 12, 2015 Aibek Gudaidullin was issued an international arrest warrant. He is suspected of being a member of an illegal armed formation and participated in the Syrian military conflict on the side of anti-government forces. He is charged with committing a crime under article 257, section 2 of the criminal code of the Republic of Kazakhstan."

The Kazakh police said Gubaidullin is still in Syria. Previously the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan reported that there are at least 300 citizens of Kazakhstan fighting in the ranks of Islamic State. Half of them are believed to be women.

During his professional football career, Gubaidullin was FC Akzhayik's team captain and played as an attacking midfielder. However, in 2011 he quit playing football after injuring his chest during a bar fight.