Selfies from Syria: Chinese-born militia member sends social media missives from the frontlines

Courtesy of Huang Lei, Graphics: Yang Ruoyu, Li You/Globaltimes.cn

A British-Chinese serving in a Kurdish militia has captured the attention of social media with a recent series of selfies revealing his daily experiences in Syria.

Huang Lei, 23, is one of hundreds of international fighters helping Kurdish forces engage the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) in northern Syria, near the border of Turkey.

The photos, posted on his Sina Weibo account @LeiG7, show Huang with other volunteers from around the world serving in the YPG, a Kurdish militia that provides security in most of Syria’s Kurdish areas.

Born in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, Huang moved to Britain as a child. After studying at the University of Manchester. Huang joined the fight with the Kurds in March. "I saw a Kurdish woman strapped with explosives run towards ISIS militants to save her homeland," said Huang.