KABUL: (Middle East Press) An Australian who travelled to Syria to join the Kurdish troops in battling jihadists has been killed, a monitor said Wednesday, adding he was the first Westerner to die fighting alongside the Kurds.
“An Australian man was killed in an assault on Tuesday by the ISIL militants against a position of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) near Tal Hamis in Hasakeh province,” said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman.
The Observatory had reported the fighter’s death on Tuesday, but was unable to confirm his nationality until Wednesday.
“They are volunteers, they don’t get paid anything at all,” said Abdel Rahman.
He added “The YPG isn’t actively recruiting foreigners, but people from countries like Canada, the United States, Britain, Spain, Australia, Holland, Austria and France have travelled to Syria to join their ranks.”
Some of them had previous combat experience because they had served in the army.
In December, Australia revealed that 20 of its citizens who had travelled to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS had been killed.
