Australian teen presumed killed in Syria is still alive, video purportedly shows

Video has emerged of an Australian teenager thought to have been killed in Syria last year, casting doubt over his fate.

Yusuf Zahab, who would now be aged around 19, was originally reported to have been killed in July 2022 after an Islamic State group (IS) attack in January of that year on al-Sina’a prison in the city of Al-Hasakah.

However, a video passed to Australian officials shows a teenager believed to be Zahab talking to the camera, identifying himself and his parents, according to The Australian.

Although the video is almost a year old, Zahab refers to the date in the video as September 2022, almost two months after news emerged of his death in the prison attack, which he seemingly survived. 

The teenager was jailed in 2019 at the age of 14 by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Zahab was 11 when he was taken into Syria by his family nearly a decade ago, with his older brothers allegedly being fighters and recruiters for IS.

The SDF have confirmed the boy’s identity, but international charity and humanitarian groups are now seeking definitive proof of his survival, according to multiple reports.

Detained kids subject to 'inhumane and degrading' treatment by SDF

A statement from Zahab’s family expressed their joy and hope that they would be reunited with the teenager, but they also expressed fear that he still remains "unsafe" in the harsh conditions of SDF-run prisons in northeast Syria.

His family also called on the Australian government to bring other Australian children and innocents home from Syria.

Both Zahab’s mother and sister are in a secure SDF camp in northeast Syria. His two older brothers were killed in airstrikes while allegedly fighting for or working on behalf of IS.

The Australian government has yet to comment on Zahab’s case and any plans to bring him home.

Australia has launched two successful repatriation programmes bringing home orphans and women in Syria.

However, there currently remains 40 Australians, 10 children and 30 women, detained in the Roj detention facility, with a smaller number reportedly held in the notoriously dangerous Al-Hol camp. All are thought to be the children and widows of slain IS fighters.

Speaking recently about the situation, a panel of UN experts said that northeast Syria remained a legal "black hole" where boys are being held "cradle-to-the-grave" by the SDF and allegedly exploited by the group. 

"We are extremely concerned that serious harm may befall these boys and fear they may be forcibly disappeared, and subject to sale, exploitation and abuse, torture, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment," the UN panel said.