A Special Forces team undergoes a practice exercise in Iraq in 2014.
The Department of Defense reported Thursday that an American commando was killed during a U.S. Special Forces operation to rescue hostages held by the extremist ISIL in northwest Iraq. The unidentified man was the
first U.S. combat fatality in Iraq since 2011 although a few other Americans have died since then from nonhostile causes. A
statement issued by the Department of Defense said the man was wounded and medically treated but died later from his injuries.
Fazel Hawramy in Erbil and Shalaw Mohammed in Kirkuk at The Guardian report:
About 70 hostages facing “imminent mass execution” have been rescued from an Islamic State jail in a raid by Kurdish troops and US special forces in northern Iraq, according to US and Kurdish officials.
One member of the US force was killed during the operation on Thursday morning, the Pentagon said. This was be the first US combat fatality on the ground in the fight against Isis in Iraq and Syria, and the first since US troops withdrew from Iraq in 2011.
The raid targeted a makeshift Isis prison near the town of Hawijah after US and Kurdish forces received reports that the hostages “faced imminent mass execution,” the Pentagon said.
Four Kurdish Peshmerga fighters were wounded in the joint operation of the U.S. Special Forces, Peshmerga and the Iraqi army, officials said. According to the DOD, five ISIL fighters were captured and a number killed in the operation.
Michael R. Gordon reports:
American military officials declined to comment on the details of the classified operation, some of which remained unclear. But as described by Iraqi officials in the area, the mission appeared to be a significant joint strike against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, at a time when Iraqi and American officials are trying to mount a wider counteroffensive against the militants.
Iraqi officials said the raid involved American helicopters, Kurdish and American Special Operations forces, and airstrikes.