Thursday, March 28, 2024

Baghdad

URGENT: American Jihadist killed fighting alongside ISIL

ouglas McAuthur McCain died in rebel clash in Syria over the weekend. The American citizen lived in California before traveling overseas to fight with ISIS. PHOTO: courtesy of Facebook/ New York Daily News.
Douglas McAuthur McCain died in rebel clash in Syria over the weekend. The American citizen lived in California before traveling overseas to fight with ISIS. PHOTO: Facebook

(IraqiNews.com) U.S. officials confirmed Tuesday that the body of American national Douglas McAuthur McCain, 33, was found after he fought as a jihadist for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria against another rebel group. He was identified based on the U.S. passport he had in his pocket.

CNN spoke to McCain’s uncle, Ken McCain, who said his nephew converted from Christianity to Islam several years ago, became a jihadi and left his family “devastated.” Douglas McCain often praised the Islamic State on his Twitter account.

McCain went by the name “Duale ThaslaveofAllah” on Facebook, and converted to Islam in 2004.

Raised in Minnesota, McCain moved to San Diego as an adult before joining with ISIL in Syria at some point after June 9, according to his Twitter account, the New York Daily News reported.

National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said officials were “aware” of McCain’s presence in Syria and acknowledged that the White House had been tracking his whereabouts prior to his death.

“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,” she said.

The discovery of an American Muslim convert in combat alongside foreign fighters is consistent with the unease of U.S. officials, who are concerned they will take what they learned from the battlefield, return to the homeland and perpetrate attacks on Americans.

Obama administration officials believe the threat capability of the returning jihadists is limited to small attacks. The foreign fighters are expected to lack the conspiracy planning and organization necessary to commit a larger attack like the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said.

But Maj. Lyons suggested the foreign fighters overall present a greater long-term danger to the United States than al-Qaeda.

“Unlike the 9/11 terrorists, who worked as a team and [carried out] a plan over the course of years, individuals returning from Syria are likely a greater risk to be either lone wolf suicide bomber-type attackers or organizers/recruiters for cells who will conduct a more complex attack than a suicide bomb,” he said.

Senior U.S. officials said that it is likely that intelligence agencies will place those Americans on an appropriate watch list or a no-fly list.

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