THE father of three Brighton boys who fled the city to wage jihad in Syria has himself left the UK in a bid to save his last surviving son.

Abubaker Deghayes left Brighton in February to bring home his last surviving son Amer, 21, who travelled to the Middle East in January 2014.

Amer’s brothers Jaffah, 17, and Abdulla, 18, were killed fighting Syrian government forces in separate incidents last year. All three brothers have been fighting for the al-Qaida-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusr, which has been known to fight against the likes of Islamic State (IS) as well as Syrian forces.

Amer, who has been regularly posting on Facebook and periodically speaking to The Argus during his time in Syria, has not been heard from online for nearly four weeks.

Abubaker, who is currently in Libya, previously told The Argus that the authorities had stopped him from going to Syria to bring his son back by withdrawing his passport.

But he is now believed to be with his brother Omar Deghayes in Libya’s capital city Tripoli.

Omar was held by the US at the notorious Guantánamo Bay detention camp between 2002 and 2007, but was released following a campaign which was supported by The Argus.

It is not the first time Abubaker has pleaded with his sons to come home. He once travelled to Turkey, where he met Jaffah and Abdullah, in a failed bid to stop them from entering Syria.

His latest effort to save his last remaining son could also be in vain. In November Amer told The Argus he would not return home until “all Muslim lands are liberated”, adding that jihad was “not for tasters”.

Despite this, Abubaker took the ferry from the Italian port of Salerno on February 16 and arrived the following day at the Tunisian port of Carthage, via Palermo in Sicily, which is around 300 miles from the Libyan border. His route to Syria could see him travel through Turkey.

The latest development comes as reports suggest a 17-year-old girl from Brighton – described as a close friend of the Deghayes – was recently stopped at Gatwick on suspicion of attempting to join jihadis in Syria.

Two children killed and one still at large in war torn country

Brighton father Abubaker Deghayes is thousands of miles away from home in search of his jihadi son – having already lost two of his children to the grisly war in Syria last year.

Speaking to The Argus yesterday, Abubaker revealed he had not “run away” to Syria, adding that he had informed the British authorities of his intentions to leave the country to find Amer, 21.

Responding to concerns about his trip, Abukbaker stressed he had not left to fight in Syria and said he is against war. He said he simply wants to bring home his last surviving son before it is too late.

He said: “I am in Tripoli at the moment, in Libya. It looks and sounds like I have run away from the authorities but I didn’t leave until I informed them, through my lawyers, what I was intending to do.

“I will go and try to bring Amer home. Tell the readers [of The Argus] that I have been going to Syria long before the government started to change its stance on people going out there.

“If I wanted to join the fighting, I could have done so easily. But out of personal belief and nature, and not the government, I haven’t. I don’t like wars and bloodshed.

“I am fine and all is well. I shall be back in Brighton soon.”

It has been a rollercoaster year for Abubaker and his family, who lived in Saltdean before being recently forced to move home because of the media and public reaction to the boys’ trip to Syria.

In April news broke that Abubaker’s 18-year-old son Abdullah had been killed by Assad’s forces after suffering a bullet wound to his stomach. Six months later he was informed about the death of his other son Jaffer, 17, who was shot in the head during a battle in the war-torn city of Aleppo.

Abubaker insisted his sons were not terrorists but had travelled to Syria to defend “those who are weak”. He said they left the country without his or their mother’s consent and they went of their own free will.

The trio of brothers and a fourth man, Ibrahim Kamara, 19, have affectionately been described as the ‘Brighton Boys’ among comrades in Syria.

Kamara , who was killed in a US airstrike in Syria last September, could have been coerced into jihad after witnessing his mother, Khadija Kamara, suffer sustained racism in Brighton which resulted in her having to be relocated on numerous occasions.

Brighton and Hove City Council said it could not comment on individual cases but stressed it had introduced a project – the One Voice programme – to strengthen community bonds across the city. It helps parents understands the threats of radicalisation to young people online and looks to counter Islamophobia.

Sussex Police bosses have urged anyone who has concerns or information about anyone locally planning to travel to Syria or Iraq to contact the force.

A police statement said: “The Government advice continues to be that no one should travel to these war zones and that the most effective way to help the affected population is through humanitarian support.

“Anyone locally who has concerns or information about someone who is planning to travel to Syria or Iraq for whatever reason or are hearing or seeing negative tensions within communities can contact the Sussex Police prevent engagement team on 101 or email channel@sussex.pnn.police.uk.”