LONDON: Police investigating the death of a British teenager who was killed fighting in Syria last month raided his family’s home on Tuesday with warrants issued under anti-terrorism legislation.

Abdullah Deghayes, 18, died after traveling to Syria with his two brothers to fight alongside rebel forces against President Bashar Assad.

Police and counter-terrorism forces said they were searching four houses in southeast England as part of an investigation into the teenager’s death.

They said the raids, which began early on Tuesday morning, were not in response to any immediate threat and that no arrests were expected.

Abdullah Deghayes’ father, Abu Bakr Deghayes, said he was being held with his family in a small room inside his Brighton house.

“It’s very upsetting and frustrating. If there was another way to deal with this I would have happily complied. I just can’t understand why they would put my family through this,” he said, speaking by phone to the support charity CAGE.

Meanwhile, a missile crashed into a rebel-held Syrian town while most people were at home sleeping, killing 13 people, activists said Tuesday.

The attack on northern town of Marea occurred late Monday, said a local activist who uses the name Abu Al-Hassan. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported the attack.

Those killed included an entire family composed of Mohammed Jafar, 70, his 40-year-old wife and their eight children. Abu Al-Hassan said the Jafar’s first wife died years ago, and he married for a second time. He said the marriage gave the retired mechanic a new lease on life: he decided to enroll in high school, and graduated when he was about 60, Abu Al-Hassan said.

“He wanted to go to university but his grades weren’t very good,” according to Al-Hassan, who said he used to attend annual exams with the man. Abu Al-Hassan said he wasn’t aware of any fighting in the area. He said the nearest front was 25 km away in the area of Bureij.

A government airstrike also killed 10 people in the nearby northern town of Azaz early Tuesday, according to the Observatory.