British man fighting Islamic State in Syria dies while clearing mines
Oliver Hall becomes the seventh Briton to have died in the country while fighting IS alongside Kurdish forces.
Thursday 30 November 2017 10:22, UK
A British man who joined Kurdish forces in Syria to fight Islamic State has died while clearing mines in Raqqa.
Oliver Hall, from Portsmouth, who had been in the country for about four months, died on Saturday while working with the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), according to the Kurdish Solidarity Campaign.
The 24-year-old is thought to have been working in the city, which had been under IS control for three-and-a-half-years, when he was caught in an explosion and fatally injured.
He is the seventh Briton to have died in the country while fighting with YPG fighters.
Mr Hall's family have been informed.
:: Jac Holmes: British sniper who fought IS killed by landmine in Raqqa
Kurdish Solidarity Campaign co-chairman Mark Campbell said: "It is with deep regret and sorrow that I can confirm via Kurdish sources in Syria that Ollie Hall, a UK national who travelled to Syria in August to help in the liberation of the ISIS city of Raqqa with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), fell on 25 November from an explosion of ordnance left by Daesh after the liberation of the city.
"Our deepest sympathies are with the family and friends of Ollie at this time."
The death comes after social media posts appeared to show Mr Hall wearing camouflage and carrying weapons with messages pledging solidarity between Britain and Syria.
Friends at home can be seen posting good luck messages in response.
Other British nationals who have died fighting IS include sniper Jac Holmes, 24, who was also killed while clearing mines, and Mehmet Aksoy, 32, who died in an IS attack.
Ryan Lock, 20, shot himself to avoid being taken hostage and Luke Rutter, 22, Dean Evans, 22, and Konstandinos Erik Scurfield, 25, were all killed in operations against Islamic State.
The latest death follows the liberation of Raqqa last month after it served as the IS capital since 2014.
The YPG, which the men joined, is mostly made up of Kurdish men and women fighting Islamic State in the north of Syria.