Melbourne man killed in Syria - The Age - The Age

Sammy Salma. Photo: Supplied.

A Melbourne man has died in Syria, near Aleppo, a bloody front line in the civil war between rebels and government soldiers.

But it is not known if Sammy Salma, a 22-year-old from Roxburgh Park, had been fighting with rebels.

Four Australians have died in Syria since last August. Three of the men have been from Melbourne, including one who was fighting with the rebel.

Zaky Mallah, who has started a Free Syrian Army Australia group, said Sammy Salma died on April 15. He may have been killed by an explosion.

He left for Syria around September last year.

Mr Salma had spent time at the same boxing gym as Roger Abbas, a champion kickboxer from Meadow Heights who was killed in Syria in October.

His brother has posted a message about Mr Salma on his Facebook page.

"May he rest in peace inshallah my little brother Sammy Salma may Allah except him as a Shaheed [martyr]," his brother said.

Mr Salma had posted on his own Facebook page on April 12: "they rejoice in what allah has bestowed upon them of his bounty and rejoice for the sake of those who have...not yet joined them (not yet marytred) [sic]".

He also posted in another message on April 7: "Now the centre of all the events is muslim lands, if you are old enough to remember the news 20 years ago you would rarely hear anything about islam and muslims on the news...but you are now the centre of events. You absolutly want to make sure that your right in there and not sitting on the sidelines".

Reuters reported on Wednesday that a ceasefire had been called in Aleppo, the largest city in Syria.

The ceasefire, the first in months, had been called to allow aid workers to collect 31 bodies that had been decomposing in the rubble of the front line.

It is not known if this is where Mr Salma had died.

It was reported that large parts of Aleppo, once a cosmopolitan commercial hub, had fallen to Sunni Islamist opposition soldiers in the past two years.

The dead had been killed by government snipers, and more rebels had died in recent clashes in other parts of the city.

It was reported on Saturday that ASIO believed as many as 200 Australians were fighting against President Bashar al-Assad's soldiers in Syria.

Foreign Affairs Minister, Bob Carr, said authorities were taking the reports seriously and monitoring the "potential threat" to Australia. He said that he expected the number of Australians fighting in Syria was considerably lower than 200.

Only one Australian, Yusuf Toprakkaya, has been confirmed as travelling to Syria to fight. Mr Toprakkaya, a 30-year-old from Broadmeadows killed by a sniper in December, had been photographed with weapons in the village of Maarat Numan and was remembered by locals as a hero for fighting against the Syrian regime.

The other Australian to die was popular Sydney sheikh and teacher Sheikh Mustapha Al Majzoub who was killed in a rocket attack while carrying out humanitarian and charity work last August.

Australians who go to Syria to fight could face federal foreign incursion charges, which carry a maximum prison term of 20 years.

Comment has been sought from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, but as there is no embassy in Syria it has been difficult in the past for officials to confirm Australian deaths.