A Libyan mother living in Brighton has now lost two of her three sons who travelled to Syria in January to join Al-Qaeda, as reports from the country indicate the youngest brother has now perished while battling against government forces.
Jaffar Deghayes, 17, was reported dead by the final living brother, Amer, who sent an instant message via the internet to their parents back in England. Father Abubaker Deghayes said: “Amer sent me a message via the internet. All I know is that [Jaffar] was fighting against Assad and was killed in battle. I don’t know much else. I can only hope and pray to God to accept him and have mercy on him”, reports The Times.
The family has reacted with mixed emotions to the death of their sons. In April when middle brother Abdullah, 18, was revealed as dead after his now deceased younger brother posted a picture of his corpse to Facebook, their father seemed stoic.
Praising his son for being killed in the service of Al-Qaeda, he said: “I hope he died for a noble cause, trying to help Syria. I need to find out. I might go and travel to see… Of course I think, as a Muslim, that my son is a martyr. Anyone who dies for a just cause is a martyr”.
This week the extended family appeared to be commemorating the news of another bereavement. Jaffar’s uncle, a former Guantanamo inmate, praised him as a martyr and comforted other greiving relatives in a Facebook post that said: “As you grieve know that we are remembering you and honouring the memory of a sincere and truthful young man (deceased)”.
The brothers travelled to Syria with another member of Brighton’s refugee community, Sierra Leonean Ibrahim Kamara, 19, who was killed last month. At the time of his death Amer posted a picture of his corpse to Facebook with the caption “May Allah Accept You Ibraheem Kamara. What an honour”.
They have been fighting with the al-Nusra front, a cadet faction of Al-Qaeda in Syria which is a sometimes ally and sometimes enemy of ISIS, but remains dedicated to defeating the rump Syrian state of al-Assad.
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