An American fighting with Kurdish forces against the Islamic State group in Syria has been killed in battle, authorities says, likely the first US citizen to die fighting alongside them against the extremists.
Keith Broomfield of Massachusetts died June 3 in a battle in the Syrian village of Qentere, which is near the border town of Kobani, says Nasser Haji, an official with a group of Kurdish fighters known as the YPG. He had joined the YPG on February 24 under the nom de guerre Gelhat Raman, Haji says.
Haji does not elaborate on the circumstances of Broomfield’s death, nor does he know the man’s hometown.
State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke confirms Bloomfield’s death, but declines to provide any details about the circumstances. He says the US is providing consular assistance to his family.
— AP
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