First American Soldier Killed In Iraq Since Official End Of Combat In 2011
BAGHDAD Elite American and Kurdish forces raided an Islamic State prison in northern Iraq on Thursday, freeing about 70 captives facing mass execution and leaving one U.S. commando dead, U.S. and Iraqi officials said.
The raid marked the first time a member of the U.S. military had been killed in a combat situation in Iraq since the United States launched its campaign against the Islamic State last year.
U.S. Special Forces have staged several raids on Islamic State compounds in northern Syria, but Thursdays predawn raid was the first of its kind against the jihadist group in northern Iraq.
The operation by the Armys Delta Force also highlighted the U.S. militarys close cooperation with Kurdish rather than Iraqi federal forces, a move likely to anger the central government in Baghdad. In the past, Iraqi leaders have sparred with Kurds over growing Kurdish power, oil revenue sharing and political independence in their northern enclave.
The Special Operations forces and Kurdish peshmerga troops launched the operation early on Thursday to rescue hostages who faced imminent mass execution, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/reports-us-iraqi-commandos-raid-islamic-state-outpost-hostages-freed/2015/10/22/f0586b60-78bd-11e5-bc80-9091021aeb69_story.html