On Sunday 12th July, reports emerged that a British student has died while being held in a Syrian prison.
Ishak Mostefaoui, 27, had fled to Syria in 2014 with the intention of joining the Islamic State. His British citizenship revoked and he is believed to have died either trying to escape custody or amid serious disorder in a jail in Hassakeh, which holds IS prisoners from across the world.
According to the BBC, he is also reportedly believed to be the first British ISIS supporter to die in their custody and is believed to be one of around 10 British men and 30 British women being held by the militia.
His father, Abderrahmane, said that his family came to London from Algeria when his son was five and that while they opposed extremism he had been radicalised by people at university.
He was said to have been a popular, football-loving young man before he announced in 2014 that he was going to Amsterdam for a few days. His family heard nothing for a month before he rang from Syria to tell them where he was. On hearing the news, his father collapsed.
The Foreign Office has advised against all travel to Syria. A government spokesperson told the BBC: “Those who chose to leave the UK and fight for, or support, Daesh [Isis] potentially pose a very serious national security risk.”
Ministers have said that, of the estimated 900 people who have left the UK for Syria to join violent Islamist groups, 20% have died, 40% have returned to the UK, and 40% are still in the region.
