Father speaks of Brighton family's grief after second son is killed in Syria

Jaffar Deghayes, 17, was shot in the head during a battle in Aleppo at the weekend. His father said Jaffar was one of three trained special force fighters who was killed after they were surrounded by government troops.

He went to Syria earlier this year to join the bid to overthrow dictator Bashar Al-Assad’s government.

The pair’s brother, Amer, 20, who is still in Syria, relayed news of the death of Jaffar to their father, Abubaker Deghayes, back home in Arundel Road East in Saltdean.

Father-of-six Mr Deghayes said: “The grief I have for my son Jaffa and Abdullah cannot be described, my words fail me.

“I cried my eyes out yesterday and I really hope and pray to God that Amer is safe and returns home safe to his homeland, Brighton, where he lived all his life.

“My message is still the same to all young Muslims who are young and naive and think to go to Syria out of kindness and out of pride. To make a difference, do not go.

“The Syrians need weapons, they need governments to help them, they need quality weapons to fight the aircrafts of Assad. You can help from here, don’t make this mistake.

“Please please don’t let your families go through what we are going through.

“My message to Mr Cameron, Theresa May, whoever is in charge, personally you have stopped me from trying to go there to bring my sons back by keeping my passport for five or six months.

“If I wanted to join the fight in Syria I could have done that. I have been to that country five or six times and stayed there carrying out aid work – the strategy you are doing where we are losing our sons does not work.

“You are criminalising them.”

Imam Mohamed Toulba from the Al Quds mosque in Dyke Road, which Deghayes sometimes attended, said: “As a Muslim, as a community everyone feels sad about what happened to him because he is still so young. I have no idea whether others are out there.

“We don’t support or encourage them to go because it is not a safe place. If they would like to do something good for their society, if they want to help, they can donate to authentic organisations that are helping people.

“There are lots of charities here and I think this is the best way.”

The Imam at Al Medinah Mosque in Bedford Place spoke briefly to The Argus last night.

He said he knew the family well but did not want to speak on the issue until he had spoken to Jaffar’s father.

He said: “We are all very sad here. We know the family very well.”

A Facebook group was set up in tribute to the teenager this morning and friends posted pictures and heart-felt messages.

Youness Louarradi posted: “You were like my older brother even though you are one day older than me and now you’ve left and I hope you are in a better place, but no worries I’ll see u soon brother, every soul taste death.” [sic]

Ty Jeffery said: “I honestly thought you would be the last one to die, you’ve always been the most courageous and strong. It came as such a shock, mate. I love you, bro.” [sic]

Kristos Phillipos wrote: “Today is one of the worse days of my life, waking up to read that one of my brothers has gone. Gone but never forgotten. I love you so much, mate. R.I.P Jaffar.” [sic]

Lorenzo Shorty Short said: “You’re at rest now with your bro. You’ve done what you thought was right and no-one can doubt you for that. You were one of the bravest lads I knew. Rest in perfect peace, brudda. See you again soon.” [sic]

The Deghayes brothers are the nephews of Omar Deghayes (pictured right), who was held by the United States as an enemy combatant at Guantanamo Bay detention camp between 2002 and 2007 after he was arrested in Pakistan.

He also posted a tribute on the social media site saying: “As you grieve, know that we are remembering you and honouring the memory of a sincere and truthful young man (deceased).

“May the peace which comes from Allah accept yours.”

A woman who lives near the Deghayes family home in Saltdean, but did not wish to be named, said: “To lose one son is awful, but to lose two so close together is unimaginable.

“The family must be going through a terrible time.

“I don’t understand why these teenagers are putting their lives at risk like this.”

Following the death of Abdullah, counter-terrorism officers raided the Deghayes’ family home in May and seized material after a warrant was issued under the Terrorism Act 2000.

Mr Deghayes has previously said that his three sons could have helped the cause in Syria from the UK by lobbying the government.

But in a film shot by Vice News this year, Amer said he had no intention of returning to Britain, and said of his brother joining him: “It was his choice.

“He didn’t tell anyone he was coming here. He just came here.

“Obviously now he can’t go back, he has a duty here as well and he feels very strongly about what he’s willing to do.

“So all my job now is to make sure he does things correctly and he doesn’t go astray. I’ll look after him.”

He added: “My work here is not done.

“I came here to give victory to the people and make sure that they receive justice, and we still haven’t reached the goal yet.

“I’m in the Syrian civil war because I believe it’s my duty to fight here.

“The Muslim nation is like one body.

“If one part complains, the other parts react, so I don’t see it as a Syrian conflict. I see it as an Islamic conflict.”

Counter-terrorism investigators have expressed concerns about aspiring British jihadis travelling to Syria and becoming radicalised.

Others who have died include 19-year-old Ibrahim Kamara from Brighton who was killed in Aleppo last month and Abdul Waheed Majeed, 41, who drove a lorry into a jail in the same city before detonating a bomb in February.

The married father-of-three, who was born and raised in Crawley, left Britain in 2013, telling his family he was going on a humanitarian mission to Syria.

He was the first British suicide bomber to die in Syria.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are aware of reports of the death of a British national in Syria.

“The UK has advised for some time against all travel to Syria, where all UK consular services are suspended.

“As we do not have any representation in Syria, it is extremely difficult to get any confirmation of deaths or injuries and our options for supporting British nationals there are extremely limited.”

Sussex Police 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 south east counter-terrorism unit (SECTU) and Sussex Police are aware of recent social media postings reporting the death of a man who may have come from Brighton during fighting in either Syria or Iraq.

“Whilst we will not comment on individual cases, reports like these remind everyone the situation in Syria and Iraq is unsafe and that risk of injury, death or abduction remains for anyone travelling to that area.

“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.

“Nahida Shaikh, the prevent lead for Brighton and Hove Council, can be contacted on 01273 290584 - nahida.shaikh@brighton-hove.gscx.gov.uk.

“If you have any information about possible terrorist preparations, please call the national anti-terrorist hotline on 0800 789 321.”