“I can confirm that US citizen Keith Broomfield was killed in Syria,” Rathke said. “We’re providing all possible consular assistance. Out of respect for the privacy of Mr. Broomfield’s family, I don’t have any additional details.”
Earlier on Wednesday, NBC News reported that “An American has been killed fighting alongside Kurdish forces against ISIS [Islamic State] in Syria, according to officials and relatives.”
Kurdish Co-deputy Foreign Minister of Kobani, Idris Nassan, told NBC News that the American who had joined Kurdish fighters, died during a battle against Islamic State militants in the Syrian countryside close to Kobani.
Although Nassan did not provide NBS News the American fighter’s name, the State Department confirmed that the killed individual was indeed Broomfield.
Broomfield’s mother Donna told NBC her son had left to fight against the Islamic State about four months ago, but had little contact with him.
Kobani, one of the largest cities in the Kurdish region bordering Turkey, was seized by the Islamic State extremist group in September 2014. Since, Kurdish forces, backed by the US-led airstrikes on Islamic State positions, have been trying to drive the Islamic extremists out of the city.
In December 2014, Syrian Kurdish leader Saleh Muslim Mohammad said the main goal of the Kurdish forces was to liberate Kobani. Turkey is said to be hosting more than 190,000 refugees from Kobani.