American Jihadist Douglas McArthur McCain Killed in Syria
Written by : Mohamed Abdel Fattah
27 August 2014
An American man believed to have been killed in Syria was there to fight alongside an extremist militant group, most likely the Islamic State, a U.S. official has said.
The man is identified as 33-year old Douglas McArthur McCain, has been killed over the weekend while fighting alongside militants in Syria.He was a basketball-loving kid from the Midwest who turned into a jihadi fighting .
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Tuesday U.S. officials are aware of reports of McCain’s death in Syria and made contact with the family.
"As you know, there’s typically a process that needs to be gone through before any confirmation can be made. And, certainly, out of respect for the family, we’re not going to be adding any more comment at this time,” said Psaki.
While McCain , attending high school in suburban Minnesota, he struck up a close friendship with Troy Kastigar,a 28-year-old convert to Islam who died in 2009 fighting for terrorist outfit al-Shabab in Somalia, Kastigar’s mother told the Daily News.
One of the major worries of U.S. officials is that Americans who have gone to join militant groups fighting in Syria and Iraq may return to America to launch jihadist attacks.
U.S. intelligence agencies estimate around 7,000 of the 23,000 violent extremists operating in Syria’s civil war are foreign fighters, mostly from Europe.
FBI Director James Comey said in June that roughly 100 people had left the United States to join the conflict in Syria.
Comey said the terrorism threat of today "has spread, metastasized. ... The traveler problem makes it even more difficult, because the people going to Syria are not from any particular demographic. They're not from any particular part of the United States."
Meanwhile, United States began to conduct exploration and surveillance planes over Syria after the approval of President Barack Obama on it, according to the Associated Press, in a move that could pave the way to the air strikes against ISIS.
Defense officials said Monday evening that the Pentagon was sending in manned and unmanned reconnaissance flights over Syria, using a combination of aircraft, including drones and possibly U2 spy planes. Mr. Obama approved the flights over the weekend, a senior administration official said.
U.S. officials said the United States is preparing military options in order to put pressure on "Islamic state" in Syrian territory, but stressed that they have not yet made any decision to expand U.S military action except limited air strikes taking place in Iraq.
President Barack Obama sought for limited military campaign in Iraq, focusing on "the protection of U.S. diplomats and civilians under immediate threat." But officials have not ruled out a military escalation on the Islamic State, which has increased from overt threats to the United States.
Sources
www.voanews.com/content/us-man-suspected-of-fighting-alongside-militants-killed-in-syria/2429355.html
edition.cnn.com/2014/08/27/us/who-was-douglas-mccain/
www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-american-isis-20140826-story.html
27 August 2014
An American man believed to have been killed in Syria was there to fight alongside an extremist militant group, most likely the Islamic State, a U.S. official has said.
The man is identified as 33-year old Douglas McArthur McCain, has been killed over the weekend while fighting alongside militants in Syria.He was a basketball-loving kid from the Midwest who turned into a jihadi fighting .
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Tuesday U.S. officials are aware of reports of McCain’s death in Syria and made contact with the family.
"As you know, there’s typically a process that needs to be gone through before any confirmation can be made. And, certainly, out of respect for the family, we’re not going to be adding any more comment at this time,” said Psaki.
While McCain , attending high school in suburban Minnesota, he struck up a close friendship with Troy Kastigar,a 28-year-old convert to Islam who died in 2009 fighting for terrorist outfit al-Shabab in Somalia, Kastigar’s mother told the Daily News.
One of the major worries of U.S. officials is that Americans who have gone to join militant groups fighting in Syria and Iraq may return to America to launch jihadist attacks.
U.S. intelligence agencies estimate around 7,000 of the 23,000 violent extremists operating in Syria’s civil war are foreign fighters, mostly from Europe.
FBI Director James Comey said in June that roughly 100 people had left the United States to join the conflict in Syria.
Comey said the terrorism threat of today "has spread, metastasized. ... The traveler problem makes it even more difficult, because the people going to Syria are not from any particular demographic. They're not from any particular part of the United States."
Meanwhile, United States began to conduct exploration and surveillance planes over Syria after the approval of President Barack Obama on it, according to the Associated Press, in a move that could pave the way to the air strikes against ISIS.
Defense officials said Monday evening that the Pentagon was sending in manned and unmanned reconnaissance flights over Syria, using a combination of aircraft, including drones and possibly U2 spy planes. Mr. Obama approved the flights over the weekend, a senior administration official said.
U.S. officials said the United States is preparing military options in order to put pressure on "Islamic state" in Syrian territory, but stressed that they have not yet made any decision to expand U.S military action except limited air strikes taking place in Iraq.
President Barack Obama sought for limited military campaign in Iraq, focusing on "the protection of U.S. diplomats and civilians under immediate threat." But officials have not ruled out a military escalation on the Islamic State, which has increased from overt threats to the United States.
Sources
www.voanews.com/content/us-man-suspected-of-fighting-alongside-militants-killed-in-syria/2429355.html
edition.cnn.com/2014/08/27/us/who-was-douglas-mccain/
www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-american-isis-20140826-story.html
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