British Muslim held in Syria on suspicion of being ISIS member

A British Muslim has been detained in Syria on suspicion of being a member of the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist network.

Anwar Miah, who claims to be a pharmacist from Birmingham, was reportedly seized by Kurdish forces near the Iraqi border, according to UK media reports. Footage showing him wearing a blindfold and being questioned by his captors has been uploaded to social media by an account aligning itself with the anti-ISIS YPG (Kurdish People's Protection Units) and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

"I'm a doctor. The area was controlled by Daesh (ISIS) I can't do anything about that. But I came to work with the people," he said, when asked by his captors why he joined ISIS.

"I'm a qualified pharmacist from the UK. I've been working in the hospitals since I came," he added.

He said he left the UK for Syria in 2014 and had been living in the so-called ISIS caliphate for the last four years.

Since his capture last month, Miah has been held in a prison in northern Syrian guarded by US special forces. His arrest adds further to the number of British citizens held by the SDF in northern Syria.

Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, suspected of being members of a notoriously brutal four-man cell of British fighters dubbed 'The Beatles', were arrested trying to escape over the Syrian border with Turkey earlier this year. Their fate has yet to be decided as the SDF refuses to try foreign suspects in Syria and the UK has stripped both men of their citizenship.

As many as a dozen Britons are thought to still be inside Syria, most fighting for jihadist groups in Idlib, the militants' final stronghold.