A man from Espoo who went to fight in Syria has died there, the daily Helsingin Sanomat reports on Monday.
According to the paper, one of the man’s relatives has confirmed that his mother received word that he had died in Syria.
The newspaper says the man was of Somali background and moved to Finland at the age of two, adding that he went to Syria in December 2012.
Helsingin Sanomat says that if the death is confirmed, he would be the third Finnish citizen to die in the fighting in Syria. It estimates that some 30-40 people have gone to the war-torn country from Finland, either to fight or provide assistance.
Finland’s Security Intelligence Service (Supo) could not confirm the 23-year-old’s death.
“We do know that such information has been passed around,” Supo communications director Jyri Rantala told Helsingin Sanomat. Rantala recently took over the post after more than 20 years as an Yle reporter.
