Briton who went to fight IS is killed by jihadists in ambush
‘He was among the best in training’
A BRITISH man has been killed fighting IS in Syria after apparently telling his family that he had gone to join the French Foreign Legion.
Luke Rutter, 22, died in an ambush during the battle to take the IS stronghold of Raqqa, the Kurdish YPG militia said.
He is thought to be the fourth Briton killed fighting IS, which has suffered major defeats in recent months and whose leader is said to have been killed in an airstrike.
In a pre-recorded ‘final message’, Mr Rutter, from Birkenhead, Merseyside, revealed he had taken the Kurdish name Soro Zinar and apologised for misleading his loved-ones – but insisted he had no regrets.
Dressed in military fatigues, he says: ‘I lied to people I care about to come here. I said I was going somewhere else. I didn’t.
‘I apologise massively for that. Apart from that I don’t regret my decision and I hope you respect it.’
Mr Rutter – who was also pictured holding an assault rifle – said he had learnt soldiering skills and the Kurdish language at a YPG academy after arriving in Syria in March.
He added: ‘My reasons for joining the YPG are like everyone else’s. They stand for the best opportunity for peace this region might have.’
The YPG said on its Facebook page that he had come to help defeat Daesh – the Arabic for Islamic State, adding: ‘Comrade Soro travelled to Rojava in March and joined the YPG to fight the fascist and reactionary Daesh gangs in Raqqa.
‘He was martyred on 5 July after battling bravely in the terrorist group’s so-called capital.
‘Despite lacking professional military background, he was among the best in training.’ It added that when asked at the end of his training whether he was ready to fight, he ‘firmly responded “Yes”’.
He is understood to have been fatally injured when his foot patrol came under fire after one of his comrades stepped on a landmine.
According to The Guardian, the first his mother Caroline knew of his decision to join the fighting in Syria was when she was informed of his death on Saturday by a Kurdish activist.
‘She was obviously very upset,’ the activist said. ‘She said she didn’t know he was even in Syria. She asked for privacy to grieve for her son.’
At his 47-year- old father Andre’s home in Thingwall, Wirral, last night a woman who answered the door said the family wanted to be left alone.
Two American volunteers, Robert Grodt, 28, and Nicholas Alan Warden, 29, are also thought to have been killed with Mr Rutter in the ambush.
One of Mr Rutter’s comrades wrote on Facebook: ‘One of the greatest and most humble guys I’ve ever met! Thanks for the lessons.’
Backed by US-led airstrikes, opposition Syrian Democratic Forces have spent months encircling Raqqa, which was proclaimed capital of IS’s self-styled caliphate in 2014.
Ahead of a final battle to take the city, about 2,500 IS militants remain in Raqqa, according to the US-led coalition, with about 100,000 civilians trapped by the fighting.
Yesterday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had ‘confirmed information’ that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been killed – apparently in a Russian airstrike last month.
However the Pentagon said it was still unable to confirm the report.
Mr Rutter is the fourth Briton killed fighting Islamic State.
Former chef Ryan Lock, 20, from Chichester, West Sussex, is said to have shot himself to avoid falling captive last December.
Dean Evans, 22, a dairy farmer from Reading, died in the city of Manbij in July last year.
Former Royal Marine Konstandinos Erik Scurfield, 25, from Barnsley, died in the northern village of Tel Khuzela in 2015.