British chef, 20, dies battling IS
A BRITISH man who secretly travelled to Syria to fight Islamic State has been killed in the terrorists’ stronghold of Raqqa.
Ryan Lock, 20, from Chichester, West Sussex, travelled there in August after telling his family he was going to Turkey for a holiday.
He had no military training and worked as a chef before joining the People’s Defence Unit (YPG), a Kurdish group fighting IS in northern Syria.
Mr Lock is reported to have died during an offensive to recapture Raqqa on December 21. He is the third British national to be killed fighting IS since Western volunteers arrived in Iraq and Syria in 2014.
His father Jon said: ‘Ryan was a very caring and loving boy who would do anything to help anyone. He had a heart of gold. We ask for privacy to allow our family to grieve.’ In August Mr Lock wrote on Facebook: ‘ I’m on my way to Rojava (in Syria). I lied about going to Turkey. I’m sorry I didn’t tell anyone. I love all of you and I’ll be back in six months.’
Kurdish forces gave him the name Berxwedan Givara, meaning ‘resistance Guevara’ – a reference to Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara.
A statement from the YPG said: ‘Ryan was not only a fighter providing additional force to our struggle. In fact, with his experience and knowledge he has been an example for younger fighters. He crossed continents for the destiny of our people and humanity.’ In November he posted a picture of himself with cuts to his face, and wrote: ‘We were taking a small village when we got hit by Turkish jets in the night. Two of my friends, Anton and Michael, were killed among many others.’
Kurdish resistance groups have been fighting in Raqqa for two months as they try to drive IS from the city. It is seen as the terror group’s de-facto capital in Syria.
Another Briton, ex-Royal Marine Konstandinos Erik Scurfield, 25, from Barnsley, was killed fighting IS in Tel Hamis, Syria, in March 2015. In July 2016, Dean Evans, 22, from Reading, was killed by a rocket-propelled grenade in Manbij, Syria.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: ‘The UK has advised for some time against all travel to Syria.’