Pentagon: Blast Kills US Service Member in Iraq

It's 2nd American military fatality since start of Mosul operation
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Apr 29, 2017 3:34 PM CDT
Pentagon: Blast Kills US Service Member in Iraq
Soldiers with the Iraqi special forces look out on Islamic State group positions from a rooftop in west Mosul as fighting continues, Monday, April 24, 2017.   (AP Photo/Bram Janssen)

The Pentagon says an explosive device has killed a US service member outside Mosul. The Pentagon on Saturday did not provide any further details, stating further information would be released as appropriate, the AP reports. Saturday's incident marks the second American military fatality since the start of the Mosul operation against the Islamic State group more than six months ago.

The Pentagon has acknowledged more than 100 US special operations forces are operating with Iraqi units, with hundreds more playing a support role in staging bases farther from the front lines. There are now more US forces in Iraq than any time since the 2011 US withdrawal, marking an intensifying war as Iraqi forces and the US-led coalition work to push IS out of the last pockets of territory it controls in Iraq. (More Iraq stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X