A British woman who traveled to Syria to fight alongside an all-female Kurdish armed unit has been killed in the war-torn country, her father has said.
Anna Campbell reportedly traveled to Syria to fight against Daesh with the US-backed Kurdish Women’s Protection Units, the YPJ.
It is understood that the 26-year-old from Lewes in East Sussex, died on March 15 in Afrin, which has been under bombardment by Turkish forces. Her father, Dirk Campbell, confirmed her death to the BBC.
He said his daughter was “very idealistic” and “determined” and “would go to any lengths to create the world that she believed in.” “I told her of course that she was putting her life in danger, which she knew full well she was doing.
“I feel I should have done more to persuade her to come back, but she was completely adamant,” the father was quoted by the BBC as saying.
Campbell had originally been involved in the fighting with the YPJ in Deir ez-Zor, but later fought against Turkey after the country’s major offensive into Kurdish-held territory in January, along the northern Syrian border.
Many Kurdish fighters left the fight against Daesh to defend Afrin and the BBC says some British volunteers are known to have joined them. Campbell had even dyed her hair black before moving to Afrin.
“With fair hair and blue eyes, they knew she would stand out, but she dyed her hair black and persuaded them to let her go,” her father said.
In a statement to The Guardian, YPJ commander and spokeswoman Nesrin Abdullah said Campbell’s death was a “great loss.”
She told the paper: “Campbell’s martyrdom is a great loss to us because with her international soul, her revolutionary spirit, which demonstrated the power of women, she expressed her will in all her actions.” (Arab News)
