Close X
Saturday, November 2, 2024
ADVT 
International

Mother Of Canadian Killed Fighting ISIL Questions Delay In Returning Son's Body

The Canadian Press, 07 Feb, 2017 01:38 PM
    TORONTO — The mother of a Canadian man killed fighting Islamic State militants in northern Syria is questioning why her son's body still hasn't been recovered when the remains of a British fighter who died on the same day were on the way to the United Kingdom.
     
    Nazzareno Tassone, 24, was killed on Dec. 21 in the city of Raqqa, while fighting alongside the Kurdish People's Defense Units, a U.S.-backed group also known as the YPG.
     
    His family in Niagara Falls, Ont., only learned of his death in early January, when they received a letter from the YPG, which also said that his body had been seized by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, known as ISIS or ISIL.
     
    "I just want him home. I need him home," Tassone's mother, Tina Martino, said in an emotional interview. "I haven't been at work. I just sit here, day after day, waiting for the phone to ring and hope."
     
    The Toronto Kurdish Community Centre, whose leaders delivered the YPG letter to Martino, has said negotiations are underway between the YPG and ISIL to retrieve Tassone's body.
     
    The centre has also said that the YPG was simultaneously negotiating to recover the bodies of other fighters killed in combat on the same day as Tassone, including a British volunteer fighter named Ryan Lock.
     
    Martino said she recently learned Lock's body was recovered, making her wonder why her son's body has not.
     
    "I asked why wasn't Nazz with Ryan and the only thing they could say was that they believe the two boys were not together at the same time," she said. "(The Toronto Kurdish Community Centre) told me at the beginning I was going to have to wait four to six weeks. And now I don't understand, he passed away on Dec. 21."
     
    Martino said she's calling on the Canadian government, the Kurdish community and anyone who can help in the matter to do what they can to bring her son's body back to Canada.
     
    "All I want to do is get my word out in asking to get my son home," she said. 
     
    Ihsan Kaya, co-president of the Toronto Kurdish Community Centre, said he's been in contact with the YPG regularly about Tassone and noted that the Canadian man and his British co-fighter may have been separated but were believed to be fighting in the same area.
     
    "The YPG doesn't have (Tassone's) body yet but I hope we get the good news soon," Kaya said, adding that the region the YPG is fighting in is a volatile one with fast-shifting boundaries.
     
    Global Affairs Canada said officials were in contact with local authorities to gather information and were also providing Tassone's family with consular assistance.
     
    A spokeswoman noted, however, that "due to the unpredictable security situation" the Canadian government's ability to provide consular assistance in all parts of Iraq and Syria is severely limited.
     
    Tassone left Canada in June, telling his family he was headed to Iraq and Turkey to teach English. His family had suspected, given Tassone's long-standing interest in the military, that he might get involved in the Middle East conflict, but it was only after his death that they learned he'd been fighting in Syria.
     
    Martino said she's vowed not to have a funeral for her son until his body was repatriated.
     
    "I said that there would be no funeral, there would be nothing. But now I don't know."

    MORE International ARTICLES

    South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley Being Considered For Secretary Of State

    South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley Being Considered For Secretary Of State
    The daughter of Sikh immigrants from Amritsar, her full name is Nimrata Nikki Randhwa Haley. 

    South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley Being Considered For Secretary Of State

    India Incredibly Important For Me: Pramila Jayapal

    India Incredibly Important For Me: Pramila Jayapal
    Ms Jayapal, 51, was elected to the US House of Representatives from the Seventh Congressional District of Washington State. She is the first Indian-American woman to be ever elected to the House.

    India Incredibly Important For Me: Pramila Jayapal

    Muslim Girl's Hijab Allegedly Ripped Off In Front Of Students In US

    A Muslim student's hijab was allegedly ripped off and her hair pulled down by a classmate at a school in Minnesota, the latest in a series of assaults and threats reported against headscarf-wearing women in the US following Donald Trump's win.

    Muslim Girl's Hijab Allegedly Ripped Off In Front Of Students In US

    US Trucking Firm To Pay $260,000 To Sikh Drivers As Damages

    US Trucking Firm To Pay $260,000 To Sikh Drivers As Damages
    Four Sikh truck drivers in the US have settled a discrimination case against an American trucking giant which will pay $260,000 in damages for denying them employment after they refused to cut their hair and remove their turbans for the company's drug tests.

    US Trucking Firm To Pay $260,000 To Sikh Drivers As Damages

    17-Year-Old Sikh Student Shot Dead At His California Home's Garage

    17-Year-Old Sikh Student Shot Dead At His California Home's Garage
    Family of Gurnoor Singh Nahal, who was a high-school student, says he was coming home from work when he was shot.

    17-Year-Old Sikh Student Shot Dead At His California Home's Garage

    B.C. Home Sales Slide In October, But Analyst Sees Strength In Some Regions

    B.C. Home Sales Slide In October, But Analyst Sees Strength In Some Regions
    VANCOUVER — Figures from the British Columbia Real Estate Association show October was another challenging month for housing sales in some parts of British Columbia, while other regions prospered.

    B.C. Home Sales Slide In October, But Analyst Sees Strength In Some Regions