EXCLUSIVE: 'He's destroyed his own life and ours': Father of British terrorist Malik Faisal Akram reveals his son told his family 'I have hundreds of bullets' in series of phone calls as he threatened hostages in Texas synagogue

  • Malik Faisal Akram,  44, also heard ranting about US involvement in Afghanistan
  • Blackburn native was shot dead by an FBI SWAT team shortly after calls to home
  • His father Malik Akram revealed the distressing phone calls to family friends
  • He said his jihadist son had 'destroyed his own life and the lives of his family too' 

British terrorist Malik Faisal Akram warned 'I have hundreds of bullets' in calls to his family as he threatened hostages, MailOnline has learned.

The 44 year old from Blackburn - seen here with young members of his family in a new picture - could also be heard ranting about American involvement in Afghanistan in calls home as he held hostages in a Texas synagogue.

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He was shot dead by an FBI SWAT team police shortly after the calls home to Lancashire.

His father Malik Akram revealed the distressing phone calls to family friends - and said his jihadist son had 'destroyed his own life and the lives of his family too.'

His grieving father, speaking in Urdu at his terraced home in Blackburn said: 'What my son has done, I have no words to explain it or to understand what he did and why he did it.

'It came as the biggest shock of my life when I heard he was in America and in a synagogue.

Malik Faisal Akram (pictured), 44, could be heard ranting about American involvement in Afghanistan in calls home as he held hostages in a Texas synagogue
The FBI believe he bought a gun on the streets and armed himself with it when he entered the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue (pictured) in Colleyville, Texas last Saturday
Akram photographed at a faith based daytime outreach centre in Dallas, Texas, on January 2, 2022, the last picture of him before he laid siege to a synagogue where he

'When I heard this, I thought somebody was having a joke.

'He has destroyed himself and he has destroyed us. My wife has not stopped crying.'

He said his son had phoned home several times during the siege and during those calls ranted about the US war in Afghanistan and threatened that he was armed and had 'hundreds of bullets'.

Akram had fallen out with most of his family in the years leading up to his Texas terror bid, angered and alienating them with his extreme views, it's understood.

His extreme views helped lead to the collapse of his marriage to his wife Farzana who complained of his 'controlling' behaviour, a close family friend disclosed.

The family source said he had been a controlling husband - and his mental state deteriorated as his marriage broke down and his view of Islam became more and more extreme.

They said: 'He was very controlling towards his wife who he married in Jhelum, Pakistan around 2004. He forced his wife to wear the Purdah and would not let her out of his sight he even went to the GP with her if she had an appointment.

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'He argued with his family over their lifestyles and things like the men's beards not being in line with what he saw as Islamic requirements. He wished for a Caliphate Britain.

He added: 'He had no regular job or income. But how he came to become a man with such extreme views is the burning question.

A Texas Synagogue hostage flees, watched by a SWAT team officer perched in an armoured car

'He would criticise anybody he believed was not living up to his Islamic beliefs. He thought women should stay at home and never leave without their husbands.'

He added: 'He had been in trouble with the police His father had very close links to the mosques and is a well- respected member of the local community. 'But, basically, his son became a pain when it came to his religious views and his wish for a Caliphate Britain.

Mr Akram is now hoping American officials to release his son's body so he can have his remains buried in a Blackburn cemetery where another son was laid to rest a few months ago after dying from Covid related issues.

'I came to this country in 1963. All I have done here is to work hard and provide for my family.

'I could never, ever think of harming anybody or taking anyone's life.

The slain terrorist, a father of six, attended the funeral of his brother Gulzameer last October after he died from Covid-19, although they had fallen out and not spoken for two years.

His parents are preparing to bury the remains of their slain son in Pleasington Cemetery, Blackburn, alongside Gulzameer's grave

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Their pensioner father, who worked in a Lancashire mill before his retirement added: 'We lost our son and what a wonderful and handsome boy he was.

'Now we have lost another son. Can you imagine our grief?'

He said the terrorist had drifted between addresses in Lancashire after his marriage ended, but has stayed close to two of his sons who would visit him and attend mosques with him.

Police investigating the extremist's background in Britain arrested two teenagers but have since released them.

At one location where he stayed for a few months last year, he had no furniture and slept on the floor.

Mr Malik Akram said he had no idea how his son came to be in America and his family were looking for answers themselves.

The 44-year-old from Blackburn arrived in the US at New York's JFK airport on a tourist visa in late December. But new details show that despite having been investigated by MI5, no red flags were raised and he was allowed to enter the country
The standoff ended when the last of the hostages ran out of the synagogue, and an FBI SWAT team rushed in 10 hours into the standoff and shot Akram dead. All four hostages were unharmed. Pictured: The scene outside Congregation Beth Israel Synagogue in Colleyville
The White House press secretary said the federal government had no 'derogatory information' on Akram before he landed in the United States

But MI5 had probed his background after he spent six months in Pakistan in 2020.

He also had links with Syria and it was claimed he had told his family that he had visited Dubai

Malik Akram had a criminal record and was once branded a 'menace' for raving about the attack on the World Trade Centre more than 20 years ago.

The terror suspect was given a rare Exclusion Order at Blackburn's magistrates' court - the first in 25 years - for abusing staff about 9/11 on the day after the attack that claimed more than 2,750 lives.

He was also reported to have convictions connected to a drug deal, violent disorder and driving offences.

In 1996 He was jailed for six months for a baseball attack on a member of his family and a year later was gaoled for destroying property.

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But he managed to bypass the US's strict entry rules on convicted criminals and arrived in New York on January 2nd, staying in a cheap hotel in Queens.

Synagogue terrorist Malik Faisal Akram is arrested outside his Blackburn home and bundled into a police van in 2018

He travelled to Dallas, Texas, and talked about finding himself a Mexican bride, while staying in homeless shelters.

The FBI believe he bought a gun on the streets and armed himself with it when he entered the synagogue in Colleyville, Texas last Saturday.

His brother Gulbar, told Sky News the terrorist was suffering from mental health issues and that he 'wouldn't have done this at all' if he was offered more help in the UK.

He said he travelled across the Atlantic to demand the release of jailed female terrorist Aafia Siddiqui.

'He feels strongly about her incarceration, he feels it is an injustice, but he did not do this by himself' Gulbar said.

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