A 33-year-old American man fighting with ISIS was killed this weekend during a battle with another rebel group, NBC News has reported. The man, Douglas McAuthur McCain, was a resident of San Diego.
Senior administration officials told NBC News they were aware that McCain was killed in Syria and that his family was informed on Monday. The officials added that they believe dozens of Americans have gone to Syria to fight with extremist groups - including, but not limited to, ISIS.
NBC appears to have been working on a story about McCain before he was killed—their piece includes a good deal of information on his background and recent activity. He was born in Illinois, went to high school in Minnesota, and had a few small-time run-ins with the law. He said on his Twitter account that he became a Muslim a decade ago, though his radicalism appears to have been a fairly recent and sudden development:
On April 3, McCain retweeted the full English translation of the speech of Abu Muhammad al-Adnani – the spokesman for ISIS.
Soon after, it appears that McCain’s travels took him to Turkey, a common jihadi route into Syria. Three people told NBC News that they met McCain – who they referred to as Duale – three months ago in in the Istanbul neighborhood of Sultanahmet.
NBC reports that McCain’s American passport was found on his person after he died.
