UK Edition
Father of British woman killed in Syria demands more help to repatriate her body
The father of a British woman killed fighting alongside Kurdish forces in Syria has accused the British government of failing to help repatriate her body.
Anna Campbell, 27, was killed last week while fighting alongside the female Kurdish Women's Protection Units (YPJ) in northern Syria.
She had been fighting Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil) forces in the region but was killed in a Turkish airstrike.
Her father accused the British government of a "total lack of proactivity" in helping to bring his daughter's body home from the war torn region.
Dirk Campbell, who had earlier spoken of his pride in his daughter's actions, said he was now fearful that he would be unable to repatriate her remains.
He said: "They've said this is a political issue. I've said, yes, is that not your job? You've got a British consulate, (an) embassy in Ankara, you can ask your ambassador... for a ceasefire so we can reclaim Anna's body."
Mr Campbell said the Foreign Office had insisted they would respond, but he had not heard anything.
The Foreign Office currently warns all Britons against travel to Syria.
In a statement, a spokesman said: "Anybody who travels to Syria against our advice is putting themselves at considerable risk, particularly if they travel to join an armed group. We urge strongly against any participation in this kind of activity."
Miss Campbell travelled to the region last year after learning of the plight of the Kurdish people.
She is the eighth Briton to die fighting alongside the Kurds, but the first female.
In the past the Kurdish forces have managed to repatriate the bodies of foreign fighters by transporting them through Syria, to Kurdistan in northern Iraq.
But the role of Turkey - a Nato ally - in the conflict, and the fact it controls much of the Kurdish territory, will make the prospect of getting her body out, even more difficult.
Turkey, which regards the YPJ and its allies in the PKK, as terrorist organisations, has been carrying out air strikes and ground assaults in the area since January.
Following news of his daughter's death, Mr Campbell said she had joined up to fight because she was passionate about helping those who were suffering.
Mr Campbell said: “It did surprise me that she was willing to take the cause to weapons.I think she saw you had to fight fire with fire and ghat no political movement can succeed without a certain degree of strength.
“I was with her all the way, in all the things she wanted to do and all the beliefs she had”
Mr Campbell said he had last spoken to his daughter two months ago when she gave him the impression everything was fine and she was not in any danger.
But Nisrin Abdallah, a YPJ spokesman, said Miss Campbell, had died after insisting she wanted to join the frontline in the area of Afrin.
She said: "We discussed with her a lot, but she gave us an ultimatum: either I quit the revolution or I go to Afrin."
The militia has vowed to continue the fight to honour Miss Campbell and the others who have died in the conflict.
A spokesman said: "Together with three of her comrades, she joined the immortal martyrs. We give our promise to gift them with the freedom of peoples and the victory of women, in which they so strongly believed."
The YPJ was established in 2013 in the self-proclaimed autonomous region of Rojava, wedged between Turkey and territory held by Isil.
Meanwhile Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, has called on Turkey to show restraint in its campaign against the Kurdish forces in Syria.
He said the offensive by the Nato ally was "one of the most worrying elements in the whole Syrian war".
Mr Johnson acknowledged that Turkey had a "legitimate right to defend itself", but warned that fighting between Turkey and Kurdish forces could weaken the battle against Islamic State.
Mr Johnson said: "As Foreign Secretary I'm all too aware of the suffering going on in Afrin and elsewhere.
"We do worry a great deal about what is happening and certainly I have made representations to my Turkish colleague.
"We are urging our Turkish allies to use every possible restraint in what they are doing because this is one of the most worrying developments in the whole Syrian war."