Two British brothers are believed to have been killed fighting for ISIS in Syria.

Khalif Shariff, 21, and 18-year-old Abdulrahman are understood to have left their home in Manchester and travelled to the war-torn country in November 2014.

Their parents Abdullahi, 50, and Fatuma, 48, were informed of the news by ISIS militants.

Mohammed Shafiq, chairman of the Greater Manchester-based Ramadhan Foundation, said the terror group had confirmed Abdulrahman had been killed and that his elder brother is missing 'presumed dead'.

Khalif Shariff (pictured) and his brother Abdulrahman are believed to have been killed fighting for ISIS in Syria

A neighbour of the family, who have roots in Somalia, said their parents had been told they were dead in the last few days.

It is understood the family, who alerted police when the brothers fled, moved to the UK from Kenya two decades ago.

It is believed Abdulrahman attended the University of Central Lancashire before going to Syria.

He attended Loreto Sixth Form College and Stretford High School.

Younger brother Khalif is understood to have attended Stretford Grammar and South Trafford College.

It is believed he abandoned his first year in his law degree at Lancaster University to travel to Syria with his older brother.

Their parents are believed to have been told by ISIS militants that Abdulrahman (pictured) has been killed

A friend of the brothers, who asked not to be named, told the Manchester Evening News: 'I found out about two or three weeks after they went to Syria that they were going to fight with ISIS.

'I used to get on with them pretty well, they always let on to me when I saw them in the street. I was close to the older brother, Khalif. He used to work for Apple, so we talked about that.

'He went to university for about five or six months before he went to Syria.

'They never showed any signs of being extremists. To look at them, or talk to them, you'd never have known.

'I was very shocked when I heard they had gone to fight – and very shocked when I found out what had happened to them there.

'We've heard Abdulrahman has died and that Khalif is missing and is thought to be dead too.'

A police source said counter-terrorism detectives were now looking into the brother's disappearance.

It is understood the brothers were friends with Man United star Sadiq El Fitouri, who lives on the same street as their parents.

The Foreign Office refused to confirm whether the brothers were dead. A spokeswoman said: 'We are aware of these reports but cannot confirm them.'

Manchester's links with the war in Syria traces back to the autumn of 2013 when at least three British nationals from the city travelled out to join ISIS.

Anil Raoufi, Mohammed Javeed and Raphael Hostey were the first known British jihadis from Manchester.

Raphael Hostey (left) and Anil Raoufi (right) were two of the first known British ISIS jihadis from Manchester

All three were recruited by the notorious British ISIS recruiter Iftekhar Jaman, from Portsmouth, who used social media to radicalise dozens of wannabe jihadis.

The Manchester trio travelled via Turkey in autumn 2013, where they met up with a group of five other men from Portsmouth, all associates of Jaman.

Mamunur Roshid, Hamidur Rahman, Mehdi Hassan, Assad Uzzaman and Mashudur Choudhury all knew Jaman from his days in the local dawah group.

Four of the Portsmouth group are now dead while the fifth member Mashudur Choudhury, returned to the UK after just a few weeks in Syria.

Choudhury became the first person to be convicted of terror offences in Syria.

Manchester was also the home of the Halane twins, Salma and Zahra, who became known as the 'Terror Twins' after they were lured out to Syria.

The siblings both married ISIS jihadis and quickly became widowed, announcing the death of their husbands on social media.

Their cousin Ahmed Ibrahim Halane is suspected of fighting with al-Shabaab in Somalia and ISIS in Syria. Despite his radical links, the 23-year-old now lives freely in Denmark.

Manchester was also the home of the Halane twins, Salma (left ) and Zahra, (right) who became known as the 'Terror Twins' after they were lured out to Syria.