BEIRUT (AP) — An al-Qaida-linked group has released video of the first American believed to have carried out a suicide attack in Syria’s civil war.
The video released by the Nusra Front shows the 22-year-old American (Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha) smiling and saying he looked forward to going to heaven.
The rebel group says he and three others carried out suicide attacks targeting Syrian army positions in the northwestern city of Idlib on May 25.
The group says the American’s truck was packed with 16 tons of explosives to tear down a restaurant where Syrian troops gathered, while the other suicide attackers targeted nearby army positions.
It’s unknown how many people were killed.
The video posted on jihadi websites was consistent with Associated Press reporting about the attack.
%@AP Links
APPHOTO CAISH902: FILE – This undated file photo provided by Seminole State College of Florida, shows Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha. Abu-Salha, the American man who launched a suicide bombing against Syrian government troops on May 25, 2014, grew up in Florida and attended several colleges before dropping out and moving abroad. On Friday, July 25, 2014, the media arm of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front released a video of Abu-Salha, showing him smiling and saying he looked forward to going to heaven. (AP Photo/Seminole State College of Florida, File) (31 May 2014)
<
APPHOTO CAISH901: This undated frame grab from video provided by the Manara al-Bayda, the media arm of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, on Friday, July 25, 2014, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, shows American suicide attacker Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, who was known among rebels as Hurayra al-Amriki. Abu-Salha is the first American to carry out a suicide attack in Syria’s civil war. (AP Photo/Manara al-Bayda) (26 Jul 2014)
< Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
