FSA claims Aussie man killed in fight against Syrian govt
AN AUSTRALIAN man is believed to have been killed in a rebel attack on a major Syrian military base.
In a video posted on YouTube, rebel forces claim a man known as Abu al-Walid left behind family in Australia to join the uprising against the Syrian government and was killed in battle on the weekend.
Footage of the man described as Al-Australi (the Australian) shows him handling some kind of explosive.
According to the Herald, the video suggests the man, whose name means "father of al-Walid in Arabic", has a fiancée living in Australia.
He was reportedly killed near the Wadi Deif military base where forces loyal to President Bashar and the Free Syrian Army have been fighting for control since October.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said it has no record of an Australian being killed recently in Syria and could not confirm the identity of the man in the video.
The last recorded Australian death in Syria was in October when Melbourne man Roger Abbas was caught in crossfire at a refugee camp.
The 23-year-old champion kickboxer had been providing aid for about a month at a camp on the Turkish border.
Since fighting against the Syrian Government broke out in March 2011, more than 45,000 have been confirmed dead. At least 28,000 were civilians.
The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights estimates about 90% of victims died in 2012.
