WASHINGTON
(AP) -- An American from Florida launched a suicide bombing against
Syrian government troops earlier this week in what is believed to be the
first time a U.S. citizen has been involved in such attacks since the
start of the Syrian civil war, U.S. officials said Friday.
The
man's name is Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, State Department spokeswoman
Jen Psaki said in a statement that provided no other details about him.
Abu-Salha was thought to be the first U.S. citizen to be involved in a
suicide bombing in Syria's three-year civil war, she said earlier.
Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., told reporters in Miami that the American suicide bomber was from Florida.
At
least 160,000 have died in the fighting between government forces and
opposition forces seeking the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Opposition
forces had identified the man who carried out a May 25 truck bombing
outside a restaurant in the government-held northwestern city of Idlib
as Abu Hurayra al-Amriki and said he was a U.S. citizen. The name
al-Amriki means "the American."
It's unknown
how many people died in the bombing. Opposition rebels with the
al-Qaida-linked insurgency al-Nusra Front said Abu-Salha's truck was
laden with 16 tons of explosives to tear down the al-Fanar restaurant in
Idlib, a gathering site for Syrian troops.
Asaad
Kanjo, an opposition activist based in the town of Saraqeb in Idlib
province, said he heard that Abu-Salha arrived in Syria a few months ago
and tore up his American passport upon arrival.
Kanjo
said even a local commander with the Nusra Front was surprised about
Abu-Salha, 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.
"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.
He
added that Abu-Salha was a member of the Nusra Front but was not a
commander. "Most probably he came to carry out this attack," Kanjo said.
The truck bombing was one of four by suicide bombers who attacked over the course of a day in the area in Idlib province.
