Brit who fought in Syria ‘killed himself’ to avoid capture by ISIS

A Briton who fought alongside Kurdish forces in Syria reportedly “turned his gun on himself” to avoid being captured by Islamic State militants. Ryan Lock, 20, from Chichester in West Sussex, died on 21 December last year while fighting near Raqqa. He had been with the YPG – the People’s Protection Units – when he and four others came under siege from ISIS fighters in the village of Ja'bar. A YPG source told the BBC the group showed “considerable resistance” before they were killed.

It seems that the British fighter committed suicide in order not to fall captive with ISIS.

YPG source

It made him the third Briton to be killed fighting ISIS in Syria. Former Royal Marine Konstandinos Erik Scurfield, 25, from Barnsley, was the first fatality when a missile hit his combat vehicle in March 2015 near the Syrian town of Tel Hamis. On 21 July 2016, a second British citizen, 22-year-old dairy farmer Dean Carl Evans, was killed by a rocket-propelled grenade in the city of Manbij, northern Syria.

IS were robbed of a predictable macabre propaganda opportunity by Ryan’s action. I personally believe he deserves the very highest of military honours for such outstanding bravery in the face of such a barbaric enemy.

Kurdish rights activist Mark Campbell

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