British woman fighting against ISIS killed in Syria

A British woman who had joined a Kurdish militia to fight the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group has been killed in war-torn Syria, according to her father.

Anna Campbell, a 26-year-old plumber from the town of Lewes in East Sussex, died on March 15 in Syria's Afrin city while with the Kurdish Women's Protection Units the YPJ.

Her father, Dirk Campbell, said it is feared she was killed by Turkish airstrikes.

"She wanted to create a better world and she would do everything in her power to do that," he said, describing his daughter as fiercely determined and idealistic.

"I feel I should have done more to persuade her to come back, but she was completely adamant," he added.

Turkey has been fighting Kurdish groups on Syrian territory close to its border since January this year.

Campbell had travelled to Syria from Bristol in May, 2017 to help the Kurds, who were battling ISIS at the time.

The YPJ is an all-female brigade of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which has around 50,000 Kurdish men and women fighting against the terrorist network in northern Syria. The group has been defending the Kurdish-majority city of Afrin from Turkish forces backed by Syrian rebels after they launched an offensive in mid-January.

Turkey considers YPG as a terrorist group, an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has led an insurgency in Turkey for decades.

British police continue to warn against travelling to Syria, and have advised that becoming involved with any armed group could lead to arrest and prosecution.

According to the BBC, Campbell had originally been involved in the fighting with the YPJ in Deir ez-Zor, where ISIS have continued to hold the last of their territory. But in January, Turkish forces began a major offensive against the Kurds along the northern Syrian border.

Many Kurdish fighters left the fight against ISIS to defend Afrin and some British volunteers are known to have joined them. Dirk Campbell said he understands his daughter's Kurdish comrades tried to stop her from heading towards Afrin.

YPJ commander in Syria, Nesrin Abdullah, said Anna Campbell had "insisted" on leaving for Afrin, adding, "Although we tried to keep her far from the frontlines, the attacks from the Turkish state were very heavy."