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A former public schoolboy gave up his high-flying job in the city to fight ISIS alongside Kurd militias in Syria.

The 28-year-old, who uses the name Macer Gifford, says ISIS must be defeated and says he is willing to die to defend freedom and democracy.

The former city worker from Oxford headed to northern Syria in December to join the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, battling the militant Islamic group.

He has no connection with a Macer Gifford, who currently lives in Oxfordshire and has never has been engaged with the fight against IS.

The 28-year-old fighter has posted pictures of himself with an assault rifle and manning a heavy machine gun on social media.

He says he wants the Kurds to know the rest of the world supports their struggle against ISIS.

He said: "People seem to be utterly crippled by fear of the Islamic State, their use of social media, the brutal executions they’re putting online.

“It’s driving people into inaction. Sometimes you have to say 'enough is enough'.

"I believe in freedom. I believe in democracy. I’m willing to put my life on the line to go out and fight."

He is not the first Briton to travel to the war-torn region to fight.

Former soldiers Jamie Read and James Hughes went to the frontline in Syria after aid worker Alan Henning was murdered in October.

They are the first Britons to fight alongside Kurdish forces against the evil jihadist group.

Jamie, 24, from Cumbria, said: "IS is the biggest threat the world faces. Killing the aid worker was the final straw."

Dad-of-two Mr Henning, from Salford, was kidnapped by ISIS last December while delivering aid in Syria.

The 47-year-old became the fourth Western hostage to be murdered by the group in a series of brutal beheading videos.

They have joined a 20-strong 'foreign legion' of fighters, which includes a German, a 60-year-old Canadian and former US troops.

There are believed to be more than 500 Britons fighting for ISIS.