Balliu poses with an Islamic State flag on Facebook.

Albanian citizen Idajet Balliu, 24, was reported killed in fighting near the Syrian city of Aleppo on Friday – the latest of ethnic Albanians who have died fighting as part of various Islamic militant organisations since the Syrian conflict started.

His uncle told Albania’s Top Channel TV that the family had lost contact with Balliu after he emigrated to Saudi Arabia several years ago.

“I think they have been manipulated, were sent to get an education and were turned into extremists,” said Tahit Balliu.

The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, a think tank based in King’s College, London, believes that some 300 Albanian fighters, from Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania, have joined radical jihadist groups in Syria, including Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State.

In March, the Albanian authorities arrested eight people, including two radical imams, suspected of recruiting Albanians to join militant groups in Syria.

Last week Kosovo Police also detained 40 people who are believed to be members of or sympathisers with the Islamic State.

Recently, Lavdrim Muhaxheri, a Kosovo Albanian fighting with the Islamic State, made headlines when pictures were published showing him allegedly beheading a young soldier in Syria.

The Islamic State, formerly known as ISIS or ISIL, was founded in the early years of the Iraq war, becoming known as Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

The militant Islamist organisation is fighting to establish a Sunni Caliphate in the Middle East. The US recently launched air strikes to halt its advance into the Kurdish region of north-west Iraq.