British ISIS suicide bomber who 'killed 30 Iraqis soldiers in blast on Monday' identified as former British Gas call handler from Huddersfield 

The family of a British ISIS suicide bomber have described their heartbreak upon learning of his death after he was killed in Iraq.

Mohammed Rizwan Awan, 27, originally from Huddersfield, was among five suicide bombers who killed six Iraqi soldiers at a check-point in western Iraq on Monday.

His family told the BBC that they 'knew in their hearts' it was him after ISIS posted a photograph of Awan smiling moments before his deadly mission. 

British ISIS fighter, Mohammed Rizwan Awan, referred to as Abu Musa al-Britani, (pictured) was reportedly one of five ISIS suicide bombers who rammed explosives-laden vehicles into a military checkpoint near the town of Al-Baghdadi in Anbar province

It is understood that Awan and his wife left his family in early 2015, informing them that he was moving to Saudi Arabia.

Awan's family said that he showed no signs of radicalisation before he disappeared in May 2015 and that he was a 'bright, educated young man.'

Whilst in the UK, Awan worked as a call handler for British Gas in Leeds and was once brutally attacked as an innocent bystander in a gang war when he was 18.

Old media reports describe how he was shockingly attacked by a man with a machete and suffered nine wounds to his body, according to the Huddersfield Daily Examiner. 

After joining ISIS, Awan adopted the nom-de-guerre 'Abu Musa al-Britani' and signed up to become a suicide bomber.

He was one of five ISIS suicide bombers who rammed explosives-laden vehicles into a military checkpoint near the town of Al-Baghdadi in Anbar province.

Rizwan Awan pictured before he left the UK. His family say they are heartbroken after learning he was a suicide bomber killing 30 people in Iraq on Monday 

While ISIS themselves claimed 30 Iraqi soldiers died in the attack, a military spokesperson confirmed six dead and nine injured. 

Several foreigners were among the ISIS terrorists, including the Briton, according to a statement by the jihadist group in which it claiming responsibility for the attack.

A senior officer in the Iraqi army said that after the suicide attacks some 25 jihadists launched an assault on the checkpoint, the main one on the road leading to Al-Asad air base, where a large number of Iraqi troops and foreign advisers are stationed.

The officer said most of the gunmen were wearing suicide vests.

About five hours of clashes ensued, he said, and all the attackers were killed, with the support of strikes from the US-led international coalition.

Malallah al-Obeidi, who heads Al-Baghdadi local council, confirmed the details of the attack and said Iraqi forces were in control of the checkpoint.

ISIS, in its statement posted on social media, claimed that the battle was still ongoing.

It also gave names or noms de guerre for five 'martyrdom knights' that suggest at least four of the bombers were foreigners.

Among them was a Frenchman, named as Abu Zubayr al-Faransi,  as well as al-Britani, a Jordanian and Turkish man.

'Clashes erupted with the enemy of Allah and the mujahedin (holy warriors) managed to control a checkpoint called Majid and a large nearby post,' the statement said.

The group claimed 60 soldiers were killed or wounded, that some of their equipment was seized and fighting was ongoing.

Al-Baghdadi lies on the Euphrates river, about 110 miles northwest of Baghdad.

Iraqi security forces have in recent days been involved in a major push to retake the city of Hit, which lies further along the river and is controlled by IS militants.

They are closing in on the town from Al-Baghdadi and from Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province which was fully retaken from IS last month.

An image published by the media branch of the Islamic State group in Anbar province allegedly shows French suicide bomber Abu Zubayr al-Faransi shortly before Monday's attack

The vast operation to flush IS out of cities in Anbar has displaced tens of thousands of people and fighting is far from over.

'We fear that as many as 50,000 individuals will be displaced in the upcoming days as the military operations continue,' said the Norwegian Refugee Council's programme manager, Salah Noori.

Aid agencies have warned that the families displaced from Hit and its surroundings are very hard to reach and still dangerously close to the front lines.

Some 53,000 people had already been forced to flee their homes this year before the start of the operation to retake Hit, according to UN figures.

The International Organisation for Migration says 44 per cent of the more than 3.3 million people displaced in Iraq since the beginning of 2014 are from Anbar.