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American dies fighting for ‘IS’

August 27, 2014

An American man suspected of fighting alongside the "Islamic State" group has been killed in Syria. Douglas McAuthur McCain’s family had been concerned with his expressions of support for IS.

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'Islamic State'
Image: picture alliance / AP Photo

A 33-year-old former aspiring rapper, Douglas McAuthur McCain died fighting for the "Islamic State" (IS) against a rival rebel faction in Syria, media reported. The "Minneapolis Star Tribune" newspaper reported that a US State Department official had called McCain's mother over the weekend to announce his death in Syria.

"We are in contact with the family and are providing all possible consular assistance," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Tuesday. She declined to comment further "out of respect for the family."

Ken McCain, the man's uncle, told CNN that his nephew had converted to Islam from Christianity several years ago and traveled to the region via Turkey to fight. His joining IS had left his family "devastated" and "just as surprised as the country," Ken McCain told CNN.

'Disrupt and dissuade'

US officials estimate that more than 10,000 non-Syrians are fighting for the media-savvy IS. They say that number includes about 100 US citizens.

In May, a 22-year-old man from Florida carried out a suicide bombing in Syria's Idlib province. Officials arrested two Texas men in June for "attempting to provide material support to terrorists." In July, a Denver woman found herself arrested on suspicion of trying to fly to Syria to support IS.

"We continue to use every tool we possess to disrupt and dissuade individuals from traveling abroad for violent jihad and to track and engage those who return," US National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said in a statement released Tuesday, after McCain's death.

NBC reported that McCain, born in Illinois, had moved with his family to the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, where he graduated from high school in the Minneapolis suburb of New Hope in 1999.

McCain had a series of minor run-ins with the law while living in Minnesota, pleading guilty to disorderly conduct and theft, both misdemeanors, as well as several traffic tickets and an infraction for driving without a license. He later moved to California, where he attended San Diego City College.

Last week, IS killed a US journalist who had been covering the conflict in Syria. Investigators are trying to track down the identity of the killer, suspected by some to be a former rapper from London.

IS has launched attacks on the Syrian government, neighboring states and rival rebel organizations in the fight against President Bashar al-Assad. Syria's government has offered to join international efforts to stop the group.

mkg/jm (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)