British Teenager Killed in Syria, Interpol Searching for Austrian Teen Extremists
Local Editor
A British teenager and nephew of a former Guantanamo Bay inmate has been killed in Syria. His father, who found out about his son's death via Facebook, revealed Friday that two of his other sons have also gone to fight in the conflict.
Eighteen-year-old Abdullah Deghayes left Britain in January and died earlier this month. His father, Abubaker Degayes, told reporters outside his home in Brighton, England that his other son, Amer, was wounded by a bullet to the stomach in the same battle.
"He was killed in a battle, as far as I know. His brother, who is also there, is injured. The third brother who is also there is OK. He is fine," said Abubaker.
He further stated: "I never encouraged them, or anybody, as far as I know."
Abubaker said he had travelled to Turkey earlier this year to meet two of his sons, Abdullah and 16-year-old Jafar, in an unsuccessful attempt to stop them from going to fight in Syria.
Abdullah's Uncle, Omar Deghayes, was held by the US at Guantanamo Bay from 2002-2007, after being arrested in Pakistan. Speaking from Tripoli, Libya, Omar said that Abdullah was a young man full of life.
Around 400 British nationals are believed to have traveled to Syria in the past two years, approximately 20 of whom have died. Authorities believe 250 of those have now returned to the UK.
On the same level, Interpol continues to search for Austrian teen al-Qaeda militants in Syria.
Authorities in Austria believe that two teenage girls who vanished from their homes in Vienna on April 10 may have been tricked into going to Syria to fight for the Islamic rebels.
The first hints of where Samra Kesinovic, 16, and Sabina Selimovic, 15, went were a number of social media posts claiming the girls had gone to fight a "holy war."
The girl's parents told the Dnevni Avaz [Daily Voice], a newspaper in Bosnia and Herzegovina, that the pair had left behind letters in which they said they were going to Syria.
Sabina Selimovic's father said she had left a letter hidden in her books which read, "We're going to fight for Islam. See you in Jannah, there is good, there is the eternal world."
New photos on their Facebook pages show them holding Kalashnikov automatic rifles, and in some cases they are surrounded by armed men. In their latest post, they said they were going to get married so they could become "holy warriors," according to the Daily Mail.
Austrian officials believe the girls are in a training camp and are already married and living in the homes of their new extremist husbands.
It is believed the girls arrived in Adana, Turkey on Thursday, which is about 100 km from the Syrian border, according to the Dnevni Avaz.
The girls come from Bosnia refugee families who settled in Austria after the war in the 1990s, but both were born in Austria.
Source: News Agencies
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