The U.S. State Department is investigating claims by the Free Syrian Army that a second American jihadist was killed fighting for the Islamic State in Syria.
NBC News and the New York Times reported on Wednesday that McCain was killed in Marea, in northern Syria, over the weekend in a battle with Free Syrian Army fighters, a rebel group backed by the U.S. McCain’s American passport was found in his clothes along with several hundred dollars in cash.
Quoting a Free Syrian Army source, NBC News reported on Thursday that a yet-to-be named American died in the same battle.
According to CBS News, the second American killed and McCain were both from the Minneapolis area. However, the U.S. State Department has not yet released an official confirmation of the death of the second American believed to have died while fighting for the Islamic State.
It was not clear how McCain was recruited by ISIS and ended up in Syria. According to the New York Times, his Facebook page shows that he traveled to Canada and Sweden last year. In April he visited Turkey, which many foreign fighters joining the Islamic State and other militant groups use as a transit point to Syria.
McCain said on his Twitter page on May 14 that he “reverted to Islam 10 years ago” and it was “the best thing” that happened to him. He also posted an image of the Islamic State flag on other social media accounts.
Obama Administration officials told NBC News that dozens of Americans have traveled to Syria to fight with the Islamic State and other extremist groups.
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