'There is greatness of a martyr': Only surviving brother of three who left Brighton to fight against Assad in Syria hopes his dead siblings are in paradise

Brothers: Amer Deghayes (centre) was the first of his family to leave for Syria, telling his parents he wanted to be an aid worker. Brother Abdullah (front left) and Jaffar (front right) followed soon after but were both killed in the fighting

The only surviving brother of three British fighters who joined the revolution in Syria says he hopes his dead siblings have attained martyrdom and are in paradise. Amer Deghayes, 22, is the oldest of three brothers from Brighton who fought for the al-Qaeda linked group Jabhat Al Nusra.Amer left his hometown in 2013 and was joined by Abdullah, 18, and Jaffar, 17, the following year. 

But both were killed just a few months after their arrival - Abdullah by a sniper in Lakatia in April 2014 while Jaffar died fighting six months later.

During a 40-minute live interview posted on Facebook the American journalist Bilal Abdul Kareem asked Amer whether he regretted the deaths of his brothers.

'You spent your entire life with your brothers, you loved them,' he said. 

'Do think it was it worth it that they should come? Knowing what you know now what would you have done things differently?

Amer, who is believed to fighting with jihadists near Aleppo in northern Syria, said: 'If their intentions were right then what they received, and what they will receive, is worth more than they had before and is worth more than what they have provided.'

He explained that the believed if his brothers 'were killed in the path of Allah' then they both will have 'found paradise', adding: 'There is greatness of a martyr, someone who kills themselves or sacrifices themselves in the path of Allah.'

All three brothers are nephews of Omar Deghayes, the former Guantanamo prisoner, who lost an eye during his captivity at the US naval base in Cuba.

Amer denied that his uncle's treatment at the hands of the Americans and Britain had affected his decision to travel to Syria.

He told Kareem: 'The effect it had on me made me more aware that the war on terror is really a war on Islam. It made we look more into the Western governments' attitudes towards Muslims and the mujahideen [jihadists].

'But I don't see the relationship between him being in Guantanamo and tortured and what is happening in Syria.'

 

The three Deghayes brothers when they were children. Amer's two younger brothers both followed him to Syria to join the revolution but were killed in the fighting

Amer said that he now regards Syria as home and that he didn't want to return to the UK.

'The worst nightmare, which I have had few times, is where I am home [in the UK] and not able to have this honour to come here [to fight jihad].'

While he acknowledged that he had been trained to fight by Jabhat al Nusra he no longer regarded himself as aligned to the al-Qaeda terror group.

'I'm not fighting for any particular group, I'm fighting for justice and the people of sham [Syria]'.

He emphasised that his goal was the toppling of the Assad regime which was being propped up by Russian military support.

According to Amer the recent advancements made by the regime forces in the north of the country had been halted by the mujahideen.

 

Amer explained that the believed if his brothers Abdullah (left) and Jaffar (right) 'were killed in the path of Allah' then they both will have 'found paradise'

'The spirits are high. Ever since the entrance of Russia there was big test on the mujahideen. A large effort with the help of Russia. 

'They did advance a little bit but what that caused is that it spread them more thin...and right now the mujahideen moved them back close to where they moved to before. And soon it will be the advancement of the mujahideen.'

After 40 minutes the interview was cut short when a nearby siren warned of more air attacks. 

Source:Dailymail