We're getting word late Thursday that an American woman has been killed in Syria while fighting alongside rebel forces against the Assad regime.
Family members told the Detroit Free Press that Nicole Lynn Mansfield, 33, had converted to Islam after meeting an Arab immigrant. The newspaper reports:
"Two FBI agents interviewed family members of Nicole Lynn Mansfield today, according to the family members. The FBI confirmed to them news reports from Syrian TV that Mansfield was killed while fighting in Syria, said Monica Mansfield Speelman, 53, of Flint, an aunt of Nicole.
"A Syrian TV station linked to the government reported that Mansfield was killed while fighting in Idlib, Syria, with opposition forces, showing a photograph of what it said was her driver's license. It showed Mansfield wearing an Islamic headscarf and listed her address in Flint. The report sought to portray Mansfield as an extremist who was fighting with two other people from England; it said that government forces shot her dead along with her British companions."
Family members confirmed to the newspaper that the photograph belonged to Mansfield.
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