A former British Royal Marine has died fighting for Kurdish forces who are battling Islamic State in northern Syria, Kurdish political sources have confirmed.
Redur Xelil, the official spokesperson for the armed wing of Syria’s largest Kurdish party, the Democratic Union party (PYD), named him as Konstandinos Erik Scurfield and said the man’s family in Britain had been informed and that his body would be repatriated to the UK if they wished.
Scurfield is the first UK national to have died fighting with the Kurds against Isis militants. His family are believed to live in Barnsley, south Yorkshire.
The UK government confirmed on Tuesday it was investigating reports that a British man had died fighting Islamic State militants in Syria.
The PYD said the man had been killed on Monday in Al-Hol in Hasaka province, near Syria’s border with Iraq.
An American fighting on the side of the PYD’s armed wing also posted a picture on Facebook – which was subsequently deleted – of a group of fighters that he said included the deceased man.
Jordan Matson, a 28-year-old former US soldier who joined the armed wing of the PYD last September, wrote in the post: “I lost a brother very close to me … from the United Kingdom and former Royal Marine gave his life combatting terrorism for his nation and Kurdistan.”
A BBC journalist said a senior Kurdish commander had confirmed to him that a British man had died fighting Isis.
A YPG commander in Rojava - Northeastern Syria - tells me that one of their UK volunteers has been killed in battle against ISIS.
— Güney Yıldız (@guneyyildiz) March 3, 2015
A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: “We are aware of reports of the death of a British national in Syria … 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.”
