S.African citizen reportedly killed in action in Syria

By Hassan Isilow

JOHANNESBURG

A South African national has reportedly been killed while fighting near the Syrian capital of Damascus, a social activist has said.

Veteran journalist and social activist Yusuf Abramjee posted on Twitter late Tuesday that he had received information about a 22-year-old man from the city of Durban who was killed in Syria.

"The man and his brother, according to a source, left South Africa some time ago and joined one or another group," Abramjee said.

Abramjee, who spoke to a relative of the man, said the family had asked that the name of the deceased be withheld.

A spokesman for the Department of State Security said declined to comment, referring Anadolu Agency to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO).

“Nothing has been reported to us as yet,” DIRCO spokesman Clayson Monyela said via telephone Wednesday.

This is not the first time that reports have emerged claiming South African casualties in Syria.

In late 2014, the former Iraqi ambassador to Pretoria, Hisham al-Alawi, told Anadolu Agency that South Africans were joining the Daesh terrorist group.

"Over the past few months, we have received information that South African citizens have been killed in Syria," the Iraqi diplomat said.

He said three South African citizens had been killed in Syria while reportedly fighting for Daesh. At the time, Muslim governing bodies in South Africa said they were unaware of the claims.

However, several mosques in the country have been warning young people not to join Daesh.

In 2015, South Africa security personnel removed a 15-year-old girl from a plane in Cape Town on suspicion that she was heading to join the group. She had reportedly disappeared from her parents’ home and officials were alerted to check ports of entry before she was found.

Eleven young South Africans were deported from Turkey in 2015 after attempting to travel to Syria.

Turkey has beefed up security to stop foreigners reaching combat areas in neighboring Syria.

In July last year, South African police arrested four people aged 20-24 for suspected links to Daesh.