British IS members killed in battles with Syrian Kurds

Three members of the IS group including two with British citizenship and a Syrian field commander were killed during battles with the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir az-Zour, east Syria. 

"Two British nationals, one named Nasser Ahmed Muthanna, aka Abu Muthanna al-Yemeni, and the other Siddhartha Dhar, nicknamed 'Abu Rumaysa', were killed by aerial bombardment of coalition planes on the town of Sousse in Deir az-Zour," Syrian regime news outlet SANA reported.

The deaths were also reported on IS news outlets.

A Syrian field military commander named Tariq al-Jabara, nicknamed Abu Adham al-Shami, was killed during clashes with the Western-backed SDF forces.

Dhar, a Hindu who converted to Islam, taunted British authorities after his arrival in Syria, posting a photo of himself on social media with his baby son in one arm and an AK-47 assault rifle in the other.

"What a shoddy security system Britain must have to allow me to breeze through Europe," he tweeted.

On Saturday, 31 people were killed, including a leader of IS, during battles in Deir az-Zour. 

"The death of Siddhartha Dhar would be a significant story for the UK - he’d been a close aide to al-Muhajiroun leader Anjem Choudary," said expert on jihadism, Charles Lister.

"He fled the UK while on bail, amid an investigation into his public support of #ISIS."

Dhar was later designated as a global terrorist by the US while Chaudry was released from prison in the UK last week. 

Local sources told The New Arab that the battles were taking place within the last remaining enclave of IS east of the Euphrates river, as IS attempted to gain areas lost from al-Bagouz to their last remaining stronghold of Hajeen.