New York: An American volunteer fighting alongside Kurdish troops in Syria has been killed fighting the ISIS militant group.
According to a statement from the official website of the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, it said that Levi Jonathan Shirley, a volunteer also known as Agir Servan died on July 14 in Manbij city northern Syria, reports CNN.
In February 2015, Shirley first traveled to Syria joining the YPG in Rojava. He returned Syria in January 2016, after short trip to the United States and started fighting in Al-Jazira and Kobani before the offensive to recapture Manbij.
Shirley’s mother Susan Shirley, said her son always wanted to join the U.S. Marine Corps but his eyesight was not good enough.
“He was born with very poor eyesight..He had surgery as a teen. Even so, it was not enough to join the Marines,” CNN quoted her as saying.
Shirley’s death was notified to the family by the U.S. Consulate in Turkey, his mother said.
According to reports, dozens of Americans and other Westerners are fighting in Syria, mainly with Kurdish groups.
The YPG is a Kurdish group of some 30,000 fighters and is the senior partner in the Syrian Democratic Forces. (ANI)