British Isis fighters ‘must be killed’ in almost every case, says minister

The only way to deal with British Isis fighters is to kill them, the minister for international development has said.

Rory Stewart said that, “in almost every case”, militants in Syria can expect to be killed because of their “extremely hateful doctrine”.

He said those fighting for Isis, which is facing an existential threat after being wiped out in Raqqa, meant they no longer had allegiance to Britain.

He said they can expect to be killed because of the “serious danger” they pose to the UK’s security. The government said his opinions were in line with the UK’s policy.

His comments come after Brett McGurk, a US envoy for the coalition fighting IS, said his mission was to make sure every foreign fighter in Syria dies there.

Asked about the comments on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Pienaar’s Politics, Stewart, a former diplomat, said they were “very difficult moral issues”.

He said: “They are absolutely dedicated, as members of the Islamic State, towards the creation of a caliphate.

“They believe in an extremely hateful doctrine which involves killing themselves, killing others and trying to use violence and brutality to create an 8th Century, or 7th Century, state.

“So I’m afraid we have to be serious about the fact these people are a serious danger to us, and unfortunately, the only way of dealing with them will be, in almost every case, to kill them.”

The comments are in contrast with the idea that Britons who join Isis “naivety” should be spared prosecution if they return home.

Max Hill QC said the UK should instead look at reintegrating those who fought in Syria and Iraq for the Islamic militants.

Earlier in the month, British Isis recruiter Sally-Anne Jones, dubbed the ‘White Widow’, was killed in a US drone strike.

Jones was killed close to the border between Syria and Iraq by a US Air Force strike in June. She and her husband Junaid Hussain went to Syria in 2013 to join Isis in 2013.

Hussain was killed by a US drone in 2015. He is thought to have been planning “barbaric attacks against the West”, including terror plots targeting “high profile public commemorations” that summer.

The head of MI5 also revealed that more than 130 Britons who travelled to Iraq and Syria to fight with the terror group have died.