Amira Karroum

Amira Karroum, also known as Amira Ali (1992–2014), was an Australian woman who traveled to war-torn Syria at age 21, after her husband Tyler Casey went there to be a jihadi fighter. Shortly after her arrival, she was killed alongside Casey in Aleppo.

Early life and radicalization Amira was born and raised in Queensland in the Gold Coast area. Mohamed, a non-practicing Muslim, operated a kebab shop. After graduating St. Hilda's School in 2009, Amira studied graphic design at the Queensland University of Technology. She became more religious upon reaching adulthood and began wearing a face veil.

In 2012, Amira moved to Sydney. Casey was a joint USA-Australian citizen who spent his teenage years in Colorado in the United States, where he became involved with gangs, then converted to Islam, then became radicalized and worked with Al Qaeda.

A few days before Amira's departure from Australia, her parents visited her for a few hours. Amira cried, and when Mohamed asked what was wrong, she told him she hated Australia. After she left her half-brother said the family had "no idea" how she came to be in Syria.

Travel to Syria and death In June 2013, Amira's husband Tyler Casey, who had adopted the name Yusuf Ali, flew to Singapore and then traveled to Syria. He said he was going to do humanitarian work, but some of the other worshippers at his mosque believed he was joining the jihad. At the time, Casey was working for Jabhat Al Nusra. She deemed the couple "martyrs". Her sister said the family would attempt to bring Amira's body back to Australia. Rose had been aware of her sister's plans to go to Syria, and had chosen not to share them with anyone.

In an interview with A Current Affair in December 2014, Mohamed Karroum also announced plans to sue the Australian federal government and then-Prime Minister Tony Abbott over his daughter's death, saying "They are responsible" and "The Australian Federal Police and ASIO are not doing their job. It is a fact." He said Casey had been under surveillance but had been allowed to leave the country, and that federal police had raided Amira's home and seized her phone, tablet and computer, but did not prevent her from leaving the country only one day later. Mohamed said his daughter Amira was "used as bait" to help catch senior Al Qaeda figures.

Rose was married to Guy Staines, a man who had embraced radical Islam while serving a prison sentence for murder. In 2015, less than two years after his release from prison, Staines left Australia and disappeared. He was thought to have traveled to Syria or Iraq. In July 2016, his family in Australia said they had not heard from him in over a year. In the spring of 2017, Staines was reported to have been killed in a drone strike. He was not, however, charged with recruiting Amira. While still in prison, in 2019, Alqudsi was charged with knowingly directing the activities of a terrorist organisation called the "Shura" which discussed terror attacks in Sydney. He was convicted in September 2022 and sentenced to fifteen years in prison.