State Department: US citizen was suicide bomber in Syria

United States confirms nationality of first American known to have committed suicide bombing in Syria on behalf of al-Qaida.

By REUTERS
Twitter message included a picture of a man identified as Abu Hurayra holding a kitten, as well as pictures of the booby-trapped truck and an explosion. (photo credit: TWITTER)
Twitter message included a picture of a man identified as Abu Hurayra holding a kitten, as well as pictures of the booby-trapped truck and an explosion.
(photo credit: TWITTER)
WASHINGTON - The US State Department on Friday confirmed that an American citizen carried out a suicide bombing in Syria.
The bomber, who called himself Abu Hurayra al-Amriki, carried out one of four suicide bombings on May 25 in Syria's Idlib province on behalf of Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaida's affiliate fighting to oust the government of President Bashar Assad.
"I can confirm this individual was a US citizen involved in a suicide bombing in Syria," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said at a news briefing.
Earlier in the week, social media postings, including Twitter messages and a video posted on YouTube, showed Abu Hurayra posing in a still picture with three other suicide bombers, one of whom was Syrian. The other two were foreigners.
The video shows a truck-sized vehicle being loaded with explosives and then cuts to a long-shot of a fortress-like structure on top of a hill being blown up.