The United States Department of State confirmed on Tuesday that an American citizen was killed in Syria after disturbing videos arose between a group of men who were apparently executed by the forces of the Syrian government.
“We offer condolences to the family for their loss and we are providing consular assistance,” said the State Department in a statement. “We are very concerned when any American citizen is damaged abroad, wherever they are. The United States asks for responsibility in all cases where US citizens are harmed abroad.”
Families and friends confirmed to ABC News that one of the executed men was Hosam Saraya, an American citizen.
Photo without an American date, Hosam Saraya, who was killed in Syria.
Obtained by ABC News
Confirmation occurred after the videos shared on social networks last week showed eight kneeling men next to each other, with a group of soldiers filming. In a video, the soldiers are seen talking to each other. Then, without warning, they open fire, firing unarmed and kneeling men dozens of times at a short distance.
The videos were filmed in Tishreen Square, in southern Syria, on the afternoon of July 16 in the middle of the current fight there.
ABC News has spoken with friends and family of Hosam Saraya, an American Syrian citizen, and confirmed that he and other relatives were among those seen in the video that was shot.
In addition to Saraya, the family said that his brother, Karim, his father, Ghassan, and his uncles and cousins were also shot dead in the incident.
The family showed the American passport of ABC News Saraya, confirming their American citizenship.
The State Department is “investigating the death of an individual who reports that he was American citizen in Syria,” said a spokesman.
The Saraya family is Druze, the largest ethnic group in the city but a minority in Syria. The sectarian confrontations broke last week between government forces and Druss, Sunni Bedouins and other Sunni factions.
A close friend of the Sarayas who worked with Hosam told ABC News that he spoke with Hosam and his relatives on Tuesday night and told him that the bombs had fallen around his house. On Wednesday, the friend, who only wants to be identified as Omar, listened to other family members that Hosam and the others had been taken from his home by government forces.
Saraya’s mother stayed at her house looted, Omar said.
