A former British Army officer honoured by the Queen for his work with the White Helmets civil defence group in Syria has been found dead in Turkey.

The body of James Le Mesurier, who received an OBE in 2016, was discovered on Monday near his home in Istanbul, White Helmet sources told the BBC.

Mr Le Mesurier set up the Mayday Rescue emergency response group, which helped train White Helmets volunteers.

The cause of death is not known. Turkey has launched an investigation. He was found with fractures to his head and legs, Turkish media say, and is believed to have fallen from his balcony.

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a director of the Doctors Under Fire campaign group and a friend of Mr Le Mesurier, said: "It's absolutely tragic. He was one of the few people who have made a humanitarian footprint in Syria."

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Hamish de Bretton-Gordon OBE (born September 1963) is a chemical weapons expert and was a director of SecureBio Limited until its dissolution on 17 August 2017.[1] He was formerly a British Army officer for 23 years and commanding officer of the UK's Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment and NATO's Rapid Reaction CBRN Battalion.[2] He is a visiting lecturer in disaster management at Bournemouth University.[3] He attended Tonbridge School and has a degree in agriculture from the University of Reading (1987).- Wikipedia

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#Zakharova: The White Helmets’ co-founder, James Le Mesurier, is a former agent of Britain’s MI6, who has been spotted all around the world, including in the #Balkans and the #MiddleEast. His connections to terrorist groups were reported back during his mission in #Kosovo. - Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs