Body of Barnsley soldier killed fighting against IS to return to UK

The body of an ex-Royal Marine from south Yorkshire who was the first Briton to be killed while fighting against Islamic State (IS) is expected to be returned to the UK later this week.

Konstandinos Erik Scurfield, 25, from Barnsley, was shot dead on March 2 while fighting in Syria alongside Kurdish forces in the frontline village of Tel Khuzela.

His body was given to his father and uncle at the weekend in a ceremony on the Syria-Iraq border involving hundreds of Syrian Kurds.

It will be flown back to the UK on Friday, according to Mark Campbell, apro-Kurdish rights campaigner who broke the news of Mr Scurfield's death to his mother.

Mr Campbell posted on his Facebook page: "The remains of the first UK YPG martyr Sehid Kemal, or Konstandinos Erik Scurfield, will be arriving atManchester Airport 10am Friday March 20."

Earlier this week, Mr Scurfield's mother Vasliki told a reception in Parliamenthow proud she was of her son and said: "

"Kosta was not a mercenary, he wasn't an out of work soldier looking for anadventure or something to do to pass the time.

"And although this is not the way that many of us would have had him choose, it is the way he considered best for him and I'm proud of him for finding the courage to do this."

She added: "Kosta may not have been supporting British political interestswith his actions but he was certainly supporting British values."

Mrs Scurfield urged governments and media across the world to "shine aspotlight" on IS and to name and shame all organisations and states supporting them in any way.

Mr Scurfield's father Chris told the BBC the ceremony at the weekend was"overwhelming" and "very special and very comforting" to his family.

His coffin was draped with the Kurdish and Union flags and hundreds of people, including Kurdish fighters in the region, watched as the body was loaded on to an ambulance to be taken to Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Mr Scurfield, who was an expert in battlefield medicine, is believed to havetravelled to Syria three or four months ago hoping to provide medical andhumanitarian support.

He was said to have been "horrified by the atrocities being carried out byIS".

While high numbers of foreigners are known to have joined IS, around 100Westerners - including several Britons - are thought to have travelled to fightalongside the Kurds.

Last month, a 19-year-old serving British soldier was returned to his unitafter joining the Kurdish peshmerga.