US Serviceman killed by ISIS in Combat
A U.S. serviceman was killed in Northern Iraq Tuesday by direct fire from ISIS forces that penetrated several miles across Kurdish lines.
The announcement of the third U.S. death in combat against ISIS was made
by Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who was in Stuttgart, Germany, to
attend the change-of-command ceremony at U.S. European Command.
"I'm getting reports a U.S. service member has been killed in Iraq,"
Carter said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with that service member's
family."
Carter highlighted the combat risks the roughly 5,000 U.S. troops in
Iraq still face even though they are officially in a training, advise
and assist mission. "It shows you it's a serious fight that we have to
wage in Iraq," he said.
A U.S. defense official confirmed to ABC News that around 9:30 a.m.
local time ISIS forces penetrated the Kurdish Peshmerga front lines near
Irbil.
"This morning a U.S. service member advising and assisting Peshmerga
forces was killed by enemy fire north of Mosul," Pentagon spokesman
Peter Cook said in a statement.
"The casualty occurred during an ISIL attack on a Peshmerga position
approximately three to five kilometers behind the forward line of
troops.”
His identity has not been released.
A Defense official told ABC News that ISIS used truck bombs to break
through Peshmerga lines located about 17 miles north of the ISIS-held
city of Mosul. The serviceman was killed by ISIS "direct fire" after
ISIS forces pushed to his position.
In line with his advise-and-assist duties with Kurdish forces, the
service member was located away from the front lines.
The official said the ISIS attack was repelled by 23 airstrikes carried
out by F-15 jets and drones that had been called in to support the
coalition and Kurdish forces.
This is the third U.S. combat-hostile fire death in Iraq
since U.S. forces returned in June 2014. There have been 13 non-hostile
deaths in Iraq and in the region associated with the anti-ISIS mission.
In late-March, Marine Staff Sgt. Louis F. Cardin, 27, was killed by ISIS
rocket fire on his artillery support base near Makhmour in northern
Iraq.
Last October, Army Master Sgt. Josh Wheeler, 39, was killed in a raid in
northern Iraq that rescued 70 Iraqi hostages taken by ISIS. Wheeler, a
member of the elite Delta Force, was advising and assisting Kurdish
forces that launched the raid and was caught in the crossfire that
ensued after his team helped repel heavy ISIS fire.
Post a Comment