1st British Extremist Killed in Syria, 80 More Joined Rebels

Local Editor

The first British-born rebel killed in Syria has been revealed as Ibrahim al-Mazwagi, a 21-year-old extremist who graduated from Hertfordshire University last year.

To his friends, he was a sociable member of the university's American football team, but to rebels in Syria, he was one of about 80 British men who are believed to have joined the fight against Bashar al-Assad in the last two years.

According to the Facebook page set up in his honor, the north Londoner had fought in Libya in 2011 before heading to fight alongside his so-called "brothers" in Syria last August.

Announcing his death, a message on the page read: "He took part of [sic] a major operation against the [Syrian President Bashar] al-Assad regime forces yesterday and passed in the ensuing battles."
This comes as the British Foreign Secretary William Hague confirmed that London is ready to arm Syrian militants in case the conflict continues to escalate.
Meanwhile, fears rise that London could be already planning an escalation by secret arming and training of the militants.

In this context, the French newspaper Le Figaru quoted a French military source as saying on Saturday that the US, Britain and French special forces have been training Syrian terrorists at a military base north of the Jordanian capital of Amman for the past months.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by moqawama.org