What's it like to fight against Isis in Syria? A fighter and a local reveal shocking truth

8 February 2020, 14:38 | Updated: 8 February 2020, 14:42

Andrew Pierce was speaking with Macer Gifford, a former City worker who went to fight against Isis - and then they received this amazing call from a local man who thanked him for everything.

Mr Gifford was a former currency trader who travelled to Syria to fight with the Kurdish YPG militia against Isis.

He was in the LBC studio to answer questions from listeners when Anjad called in.

Anjad told him: "I am a Kurd from Syria. I just want to say thank you very much for everything.

"You did things that I couldn't do. Whatever I say is not going to be enough. People like you gave us a voice. Without you, we would have no voice at all."

Macer insisted that the local Kurds were much bigger heroes than the foreigners that came to fight with them.

But then Anjad told him what life was like for Kurdish people at the time. He said: "Any Kurdish person in Syria will tell you they lost somebody. Everybody has lost somebody.

"Let me tell you a story. My uncle and wife were in the village. His wife was completely disabled. At midnight, they saw people with a long beards wearing black.

"They came inside and the first question they asked was 'Are you a Kurd?' When they said yes, my uncle was beaten so badly, he was in hospital for more than two months.

"They didn't have anything to do with humanity. Those people are not human.

"They will cut heads, they will cut necks, they will cut legs, they don't care. They don't see Kurds as even Muslims. They look at us as somebody who needs to be killed. That is their only view."

It was a remarkable call. Watch it in full at the top of the page.