Idris Nassan, Kurdish co-deputy foreign minister of the Kobani district, told NBC News that an American who had joined Kurdish fighters died in a battle with ISIS. Nassan did not provide the American’s name, saying that further details would be announced later.
Twitter accounts and Facebook pages linked to Kurdish fighters first reported the death of “martyr” Keith Thomas Broomfield, saying he was killed in the Syrian countryside surrounding Kobani. There was no immediate official confirmation from the secular Kurdish forces fighting ISIS in Syria known known as the YPG.
A State Department official confirmed that American citizen Keith Broomfield was killed in Syria. The official said the State Department was in touch with Broomfield’s family.
Broomfield’s mother, Donna, said her other son had informed her that Keith was dead.
“I didn’t want him to go but I didn’t have a choice in the matter,” she tearfully told NBC News over the phone. She said that her son had left around four months ago to fight and that while there was “a little bit of texting” after he first arrived, lately she had heard “nothing” from Keith.
“I’m waiting for his body to come back,” she added.
Numerous Americans are believed to have traveled overseas to join the Kurdish People’s Protection Union, also known by the initials YPG, in their fight against ISIS.