MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Douglas McAuthur McCain, an American killed in Syria while fighting alongside the Islamic State, was part of a growing number of foreign fighters recruited to fight alongside terror groups.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest confirmed Wednesday that McCain was fighting for ISIL in Syria in a conflict that now includes thousands of foreign fighters from around 50 countries.
Some questions and answers about Westerners traveling to join the combat in Syria:
WHO ARE THESE TRAVELERS?
FBI Director James Comey said in June that roughly 100 people had left the United States to join the conflict in Syria. His estimate came during a visit to Minnesota, where several young Somali-Americans had lived before travelling to Somalia in recent years to help expel Ethiopian troops seen as invaders. But Comey said the new wave of travelers to Syria was not coming from any particular part of the United States.