A second American citizen ISIS fighter is being reported to have been killed in the same battle in Syria that claimed the life of fellow Minnesotan, and San Diego resident, Douglas McAuthur McCain. McCain has also now been linked to a high school best friend that died fighting for Islamic jihadi group al-Shabaab in Somalia in 2009.
American citizen Abdirahmaan Muhumed’s death is awaiting confirmation by the State Department, but a picture of his body was sent to the family, a source told Fox News.
Muhummed was one of 15 young Somali-American men from the Twin Cities who left the U.S. to join radical groups in Syria, FBI officials told Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) in June of this year. The 15 men had reportedly left in the few months before June. Friends called Muhumed outgoing and party-loving in the report and called his radicalization shocking. However, Muhumed made several social media posts including one that refers to saving the global Muslim community and if people then considered him a terrorist, he was “happy with it,” MPR reported.
McCain had spent time in San Diego attending San Diego City College, and has been associated with an east San Diego mosque known as Masjid Nur.
Breitbart News observed the Masjid Nur and surrounding area Tuesday and Wednesday. The mosque is located in an area of the city estimated by one local non-Somali resident as 90% Somali. This percentage is not otherwise confirmed.
On Tuesday, in the heat of news breaking over McCain, a number of men were observed having a heated discussion in the street in front of the mosque.
McCain was described by family and friends as a smiling joker and fun, calling his connection to Islamic terrorists shocking; however, social media posts promoted the black flag of ISIS and declared, “They are coming back soldiers of Allah,” according to NBC News.
McCain’s high school best friend, Tony Kastigar, was killed in 2009 after leaving Minnesota to fight with Somali jihadist group al-Shabaab. Al-Shabaab is a Somali jihadi terrorist group that, according to the National Counterterrorism Center website, is responsible for numerous terror attacks including, “the assassination of Somali peace activists, international aid workers, numerous civil society figures, and journalists, and for blocking the delivery of aid from some Western relief agencies during the 2011 famine that killed tens of thousands of Somalis. In 2008, the US Government designated al-Shabaab as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.” The group’s leaders have been identified as affiliated with al-Qaeda.
NBC News reports McCain’s 2010 conversion to Islam as coming not long after Kastigar’s death, and social media posts by McCain paying tribute to the deceased best friend. “Friends of McCain and Kastigar say both were fun–but “easily persuaded,”” NBC reports.
McCain family members report being aware that he had traveled to Turkey, but were surprised to learn of his presence in Syria. Before Muhumed’s death he reportedly posted to his Facebook page regarding 20-year old Minneapolis man Abdi Mohamud Nur, who had recently disappeared. Nur reportedly sent his sister text messages, telling her that he was in Turkey, traveling to fight with Syrian jihadists according to MPR.
Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana
Images: Facebook/AP
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.