A Gold Coast family is struggling to comprehend the death of their young son after he went to Syria to aid Kurdish forces battling Islamic State militants.
The family of Reece Harding, 23, has been told he was killed at the weekend when he stepped on a landmine in the war torn country.
His death was announced in a post on the Lions of Rojava Facebook page, accompanied by photographs showing the man purported to be Mr Harding in combat gear carrying a Kalashnikov, standing with his unit.
SBS could not independently verify his death, but his father Keith Harding told the ABC he received a message on Monday telling him to call an overseas number.
When he did he was told his son had been killed.
"Numbness, disbelief that it's happening," he said.
Mr Harding said his son left Australia in May, saying he needed to take a break.
"With all the information that's spread about on the internet with people beheading people, killing children, raping and beating women, I think it really did get to him in the end," he said.
"He felt that he wanted to do the right thing and try and stop it in his small way that he could.”
Mr Harding is believed to be the second Australian to die fighting against IS in Syria, after the reported death of Ashley Johnston near the Syria-Iraq border on February 24.
Reece's 17-year-old brother Jordan said he felt conflicted about his brother's decision to aid forces battling against Islamic State.
"You're caught between two ideas - that you don't want him to be over there, then you understand why he's over there and why's he's doing what he was doing," he said.
"I can say I'm proud of him being over there and I understand his thought process.”
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