First British fighter killed in Syria named as Ibrahim al-Mazwagi

The first British-born casualty of the Syrian civil war has been revealed as Ibrahim al-Mazwagi, a 21-year-old jihadist 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 honour, the north Londoner had fought in Libya in 2011 before heading to fight alongside his "brothers" in Syria last August. Announcing his death, a message on the page read: "He took part of [sic] a major operation against the Assad regime forces yesterday and passed in the ensuing battles."