A high-profile Irish Islamist who was once arrested for threatening to kill President Barack Obama during a trip to Dublin has blown himself up in a ѕυιcιdє attack for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) outside Mosul, according to the jihadist group.

Terence Kelly, a Dubliner known as “Taliban Terry” or “Khalid Kelly”, was killed after he drove an armoured truck laden with explosives at an Iraqi militia group on Friday, Isil said in a statement.

The jihadist group released a picture of the bearded Kelly, who was in his late 40s, standing in front of a vehicle and clutching a Kalashnikov rifle. It referred to him by the nom de guerre Abu Osama Irelandi.

“Brother martyr Abu Osama Irelandi, may Allah accept his soul, attacked a group of animals from the Hashd [Shia militia] in the village of Ghzayel Al-Kabir,” the statement said.

Another picture purported to show the moment Kelly’s vehicle exploded in the village west of Mosul, Isil’s last stronghold inside Iraq.

“Brother martyr Abu Osama Irelandi, may Allah accept his soul, attacked a group of animals from the Hashd [Shia militia] in the village of Ghzayel Al-Kabir,” the statement said.

Another picture purported to show the moment Kelly’s vehicle exploded in the village west of Mosul, Isil’s last stronghold inside Iraq.

He was also a member of Al-Muhajiroun, a British-based Salafist group that was banned in 2005 shortly after the July bombings.

Kelly appeared regularly on British and Irish television and in 2011 was arrested for appearing to threaten the US president ahead of a visit to Dublin. He was released without charge.  

He later began to speak out in support of Isil and defended the jihadist group's policy of beheading aid workers and journalists.

His ѕυιcιdє bombing appears to have had little impact on the advance into Mosul. The Shia militia known as the Popular Mobilization Units captured the village on Friday afternoon, shortly after Kelly blew himself up.