The State Department confirmed an American citizen called Abu Hurayra al-Amriki from Florida launched a suicide bombing against Syrian government troops earlier this week in the first time an American has been involved in such attacks since the start of the Syrian civil war, according to Reuters.
Opposition forces fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad had earlier claimed that al-Amriki, which means " the American," was, in fact, an American fighter who carried out a May 25 truck bombing outside a restaurant in the government-held northwestern city of Idlib, Reuters reported.
It's unknown how many people al-Amriki killed in the bombing, but opposition rebels with the al-Qaida-linked insurgency al-Nusra Front said his truck was laden with 16 tons of explosives to tear down the al-Fanar restaurant in Idlib, a gathering site for Syrian troops, according to Reuters.
The truck bombing by al-Amriki was one of four by suicide bombers who attacked over the course of a day in the area in Idlib province, Reuters reported.
Asaad Kanjo, an opposition activist based in the town of Saraqeb in Idlib province, said he heard that al-Amriki arrived in Syria a few months ago and tore up his American passport upon arrival, Reuters reported.
Kanjo said even a local commander with the Nusra Front was surprised about al-Amriki, quoting him as saying that people do all they can to try go to the U.S. to get an American passport, and this man came here and got rid of his, according to Reuters.
"From what I heard, I believe he was an American of Arab origin. People said that he spoke Arabic with a foreign accent, and he used to speak classical Arabic," Kanjo said, Reuters reported. He added that al-Amriki was a member of the Nusra Front but was not a commander.
