American Woman, British Man Killed in Syria Firefight
FLINT-MICHIGAN, (ST)_ The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said on Friday that one American woman was killed in a Syrian firefight identified as Nicole Lynn Mansfield, a 33- year old Muslim convert from Michigan.
Mansfield and two other foreigners were killed while participating in fighting with armed terrorist groups in Syria.
Mansfield’s body was recovered following fighting near Idlib., she was wearing a head scarf and was found with a Michigan driver’s license and U.S. passport on her.
Mansfield’s grandmother Carol Mansfield confirmed to the media that the woman had been killed in Syria.
Mansfield is the first American to be killed in the conflict. Her body was found alongside a British national, U.K. authorities confirmed.
Her father Gregory Mansfield “spoke to the State Department in the afternoon yesterday. He was in denial,” the grandmother, Carol Mansfield, said.
Carol Mansfield said she last saw her granddaughter in December and believed she went to Syria to help “settle the problems of the world.” She added thatthe Mansfield family “are true blooded Americans.”
Family members told the Detroit Free Press they had been interviewed by the FBI for several hours.
“I’m sick over it,” Mansfield’s aunt Monica Speelman told the paper. “I didn’t think she was a terrorist”.
Meantime, British Foreign Office said on Friday that one Briton was killed in Syria in the fighting with the armed terrorist groups.
AFP quoted a spokesman for the British Foreign Office as saying, “We learned that a British citizen was killed in Syria, his family was informed and we provide consular assistance” . Further details were not disclosed nor the identity of the dead British.
EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Jill de Kirchhoff said earlier that more than 500 Europeans are fighting alongside armed terrorist groups in Syria and intelligence reports indicate that the Western countries facilitate the flow of terrorists from its territory in order to get rid of them.
T. Fateh