British surgeon fled to Pakistan via Croatia and joined the Taliban

A British surgeon who was supposed to be tried for assault has fled the country and made his way to Pakistan via Croatia, where he has become a high-ranking Taliban official, British media reported, according to the BH News Agency.

Mirza Tariq Ali (39) managed to escape British authorities even though his passport was confiscated pending trial. He reappeared last week in a recruitment video for the Taliban group, calling on foreign jihadists to join him.

Ali fled Britain with the intention of traveling to Syria to join the Islamic State, according to his video, while awaiting trial for violent conduct at protests where he called for jihad in Syria. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison in absentia.

In the video, Ali says he was detained in Croatia and deported to Pakistan so as not to be extradited to Britain to serve his sentence. It is unclear how he appeared in Croatia. He said that while trying to join the Islamic State, he was arrested somewhere along the way and detained in Croatia.

After being released in Croatia, Ali was deported to Pakistan, where he joined the Pakistani Taliban group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Jamaatul Ahrar.

This surgeon, who came to Britain in 2004 from Pakistan, where he served as a military doctor, is one of a growing number of known Islamic extremists who have evaded prison to wage a "holy war" abroad.