The US State Department on Friday confirmed that a US citizen had carried out a suicide bombing in Syria.

"The US citizen involved in the suicide bombing in Syria is believed to be Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.

Abu-Salha was thought to be the first US citizen to be involved in a suicide bombing in Syria's three-year civil war, she said earlier.

The New York Times, which first reported the suicide bomber's name, said he grew up in Florida and traveled to Syria last year.

A US security official said US agencies were aware before the suicide bombing that he had traveled to Syria to join militants. The official declined to give further details.

The official said that unlike some other foreign fighters in Syria, the suicide bomber was not known to have posted messages on Twitter or other social media websites.

The bomber, who used the nom de guerre Abu Hurayra al-Amriki, carried out one of four suicide bombings on May 25 in Syria's Idlib Province on behalf of Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaida's affiliate fighting to President Bashar al-Assad.

Asaad Kanjo, an opposition activist based in the town of Saraqeb in Idlib, said he heard that Abu-Salha arrived in Syria a few months ago and tore up his American passport upon arrival.

At least 160,000 have died in the fighting between government forces and opposition forces seeking the ouster of President Assad.

Kanjo said even a local commander with the Nusra Front was surprised about Abu-Salha, quoting him as saying that people do all they can to try to go to the US to get an American passport, and this man came here and got rid of his.

"From what I heard, I believe he was an American of Arab origin. People said that he spoke Arabic with a foreign accent, and he used to speak classical Arabic," Kanjo said.

He added that Abu-Salha was a member of the Nusra Front but was not a commander. "Most probably he came to carry out this attack," Kanjo said.

The truck bombing was one of four by suicide bombers who attacked over the course of a day in the area in Idlib province.

Reuters-AP

(China Daily 06/01/2014 page4)