Nicole Lynn Mansfield, a 33-year-old woman from Flint Michigan, who was a convert to Islam, was reportedly to be killed alongside a British man by an ambush on an opposition scouting mission north of the city of Idlib, Syrian state media said on Friday, and also reported by CNN.
Syrian state television aired footage showing the body of the woman, who was dressed in a full black hijab, had also showed her identification indicating she was an American from Michigan. A British subject named as Ali Manasifi, born in 1990, also was reportedly killed in the same ambush, a European security source confirmed to Reuters.
European security officials said that between 70 and 100 British subjects are believed to be in Syria. Most believed to be in the fighting are part of the Islamic extremist rebel factions seeking the ouster of President Bashar al Assad. The civil war in Syria, which began in earnest in March, 2011 has killed over 80,000 people, according to human rights organizations.
The state media said an initial investigation showed that Mansfield and Manasifi were part of a group on a mission to explore a nearby checkpoint. A third opposition militant was reported killed, but the identity was unknown, Reuters reported.
Government forces found weapons with the group and several documents, including a sketch of a security building, state media reported. Reuters said that weapons were also found with them.
A U.S. State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, had earlier told Reuters that Washington was working through the Czech Republic mission in Syria to get more information about Mansfield.
"As we do in all such cases, we are working through our Czech protecting power in Syria to obtain more information, and we appreciate the efforts of the Czech mission on behalf of our citizens," the official said. He added that U.S. authorities could not comment further "because of privacy considerations."
