A British man has been killed alongside two Americans fighting against Islamic State in Syria.

Luke Rutter, 22, from Birkenhead, was fighting with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) when he died last Wednesday evening during an ambush in a suburb of the Isis stronghold of Raqqa, his Kurdish commanders said.

The YPG announced his death in a statement that described him as a “martyr” who “participated actively in the collective life, which is promoted within the YPG”.

It added: “At the end of training in the academy, when asked the usual question addressed to every volunteer: ‘Are you ready to fight?’ He firmly responded ‘Yes’ and said he wanted to fight the fascist organisation of IS.”

It is believed Robert Grodt, an Occupy Wall Street activist from Santa Cruz, California, also died in the attack. A relative, Elizabeth Clarke, said on Facebook that Grodt had “passed away unexpectedly in Syria”.

“He was there helping oppressed people, his lifelong passion,” she wrote. “I will always remember Rob for his commitment to his ideals. He and Kaylee taught me how to chain myself to another person when protesting during their Occupy Wall Street days and I shall always remember the correct Greek pronunciation of my favourite sandwich, the gyro.

“Most importantly, I will be forever grateful that he was there for Kaylee when she most needed someone and that he was a wonderful father to Tegan. What a gift to leave the world! Thanks for being a part of our family.”

Grodt made headlines during the Occupy movement in September 2012 after he was filmed coming to the aid of Kaylee Dedrick, a fellow campaigner who was pepper sprayed by police in a video that subsequently went viral. According to reports at the time, the pair become close after the incident and later had a child together. Speaking at the time, Grodt reportedly said: “Nothing strengthens a relationship like a chemical agent.”

The YPG said another American, Nicholas Warden, had been hurt in the attack and later died from his injuries. Warden, 29, was from Buffalo, New York, and said in a video released after his death that he had travelled to Syria after Isis-inspired terror attacks in Orlando, San Bernadino, Nice and Paris.

It is understood that Rutter, who had no military experience, secretly travelled to Syria last April, telling his family he had joined the French Foreign Legion.

A video of a “final message” from Rutter was posted on the force’s Facebook page.

In the video, he apologised for lying to his loved ones about going to fight. He said: “I lied to people I care about to come here. I said that I was going somewhere else, I didn’t. I apologise massively for that.

“Apart from that, I don’t regret my decision and I hope that you respect it.



“My reasons for joining the YPG I think are like everyone else’s. I think the YPG, they stand for the best opportunity for peace that this region might have.”

Rutter’s mother, Caroline, was informed of his death on Saturday, not by British police, but by a Kurdish activist. “She was obviously very upset,” said the activist, who preferred not to be named. “She said she didn’t know he was even in Syria. She has asked for privacy to grieve for her son.”

A YPG source said Rutter was part of a foot patrol a few miles from the city centre when it came under heavy fire after a fighter stepped on a landmine.

It is understood that Isis fighters opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms.

Medics were unable to revive Rutter, who died at the scene before his body was taken to the northern city of al-Hasakah for autopsy. YPG officials said a decision would be made, after consultation with his family, as to whether he will be repatriated or buried in Syria.

According to Rutter’s official YPG enlistment papers, he joined the YPG on 1 March this year.

He completed the YPG’s mandatory month-long military training course, in which new recruits learn basic Kurdish, weaponry and battlefield tactics on top of a crash course in the anarcho-feminist ideology of the YPG, and was assigned to an infantry division, comprising a mix of Kurdish and international fighters. There he was given the nom-de-guerre Soro Zinar, and sent into battle.

Konstandinos Erik Scurfield died in March 2015. Photograph: Uncredited/AP

“From the very first day until the end of training, Soro gave the impression that he knew what he was doing and what he had come for, and he was always eager to learn new things,” said the YPG statement. “We never saw him yelling at anyone or complaining about anything.”

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office refused to comment specifically on Rutter, but said: “The UK advises against all travel to Syria. As all UK consular services are suspended in Syria, it is extremely difficult to confirm the whereabouts and status of British nationals there. Anyone who does travel to Syria, for whatever reason, is putting themselves in considerable danger.”

Mark Campbell, a Kurdish rights campaigner and co-chair of the Kurdish Solidarity Campaign, said: “Another British man has lost his life bravely fighting Isis in Syria. We will do everything we can to help repatriate Luke’s body according to his family’s wishes. The UK government should officially recognise the bravery of these international volunteers. We all owe them a debt of gratitude.”

Rutter is the fourth British citizen to be killed fighting Isis since the first foreign volunteers arrived in Iraq and Syria in the autumn of 2014.

Konstandinos Erik Scurfield, a 25-year-old former Royal Marine from Barnsley, became the first when a missile hit his combat vehicle on 2 March 2015 during heavy fighting near the north-east Syrian town of Tel Hamis.

On 21 July 2016, Dean Evans, 22, a dairy farmer from Warminster, was killed by a rocket-propelled grenade as he attempted to rescue a fallen comrade during a street battle in the city of Manbij, northern Syria.

Then, on 21 December last year, Ryan Lock, a 22-year-old chef from Chichester, took his own life after his unit became surrounded by Isis fighters in the north-east village of Ja’bar, as the YPG closed in on Raqqa.

Kimberley Taylor, believed to be the only British woman currently fighting Isis in Syria, said the jihadi group has changed tactics to fight “like ghosts” as YPG soldiers move through Raqqa.

“They hardly fight at all,” the 28-year-old, from Blackburn, said on Tuesday during a furlough away from the frontline. “It’s not like it was before when you’d face them in battles. Now, it’s all mines and snipers. And there’s nothing you can do about mines. They tie five or six together so when someone steps on one they explode in a chain reaction, taking out at least half the group. That’s when they attack to try and pick off the rest. It sounds like that’s what happened to Luke’s unit. We’ve seen too many die and get injured like that in our brigade.”



The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) coalition, of which the YPG is the leading component, have been waging fierce battles with Isis militants in Raqqa since it launched its assault on the city a month ago.



The SDF have driven Isis from large areas of northern Syria over the past 18 months. The Raqqa offensive – codenamed Operation Wrath of Euphrates – is led by the SDF and is backed by US air power. If successful, it would deprive Isis of its second largest city.