British man killed fighting against IS
A former Royal Marine has become the first Briton to be killed while fighting against Islamic State in Syria, according to reports.
He has been named by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) as Konstandinos Erik Scurfield, from Barnsley, the BBC reported.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are aware of reports of the death of a British national in Syria.
“The UK has advised for some time against all travel to Syria, where all UK consular services are suspended.
“As we do not have any representation in Syria, it is extremely difficult to get any confirmation of deaths or injuries and our options for supporting British nationals there are extremely limited.”
A statement on the Kurdish Question website read: “We can confirm that Konstandinos Erik Scurfield died in battle, probably in Hasakah although the full details are yet to be announced by YPG.”
It said it had contacted Jordan Matson of the YPG who, when asked to confirm the death of a UK volunteer, said: “Yes, I am here with his body.”
Mark Campbell, an activist on Kurdish issues, told the MailOnline he had spoken to Mr Scurfield’s mother.
He said: “Because of potential language issues I volunteered to inform the family of his death, which I did and spoke to his mother on behalf of the YPG.”
