LONDON: Members of the family of a teenage UK boy who reportedly killed himself in a suicide bombing in Iraq say they are devastated by his death.

The statement from the family of 17-year-old Talha Asmal was released by police at the family's request.

“Talha comes from a close-knit, hardworking, peace-loving and law-abiding British Muslim family," the statement read. "The entire family unreservedly condemns and abhors all acts of violence."

His family said his naive nature was exploited by unidentified people. The family said the Daesh commanders who ordered him to conduct a suicide attack were "too cowardly to do their own 'dirty' work."

If Asmal's death is confirmed, he would be the youngest known British suicide bomber to have died in the conflict.

A Daesh website said Asmal detonated a vehicle laden with explosives in a suicide bombing Saturday. It carried photographs believed to show him before the attack.

It was claimed that Asmal's attack was one of seven carried out in the city of Beiji. Asmal is given the nom de guerre Abu Yusuf Al-Britani on the website.