A U.S Navy SEAL was killed Tuesday by fire from the Islamic State group outside the IS-held city of Mosul, and Defense Secretary Ash Carter acknowledged it as a “combat death” as the U.S. expands its role in the northern part of Iraq.
The SEAL, who has not been further identified, is the third U.S. serviceman to die while fighting in Iraq since the U.S.-led coalition launched its campaign against the Islamic State in the summer of 2014. In October, a special operations soldier was killed in a raid on an IS prison in northern Iraq. In March, an American Marine was killed in an IS attack at a newly established U.S. base outside Mosul.
Over the course of the nearly two-year U.S. led campaign against the Islamic State group, the Pentagon has slowly expanded the American role in Iraq and increased the presence of U.S. troops.
A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the incident publicly, said the American was killed with small arms fire suggesting that Islamic State fighters likely came within a few hundred yards of the U.S. forces.
The identity of the SEAL was not immediately known in line with military procedure to first notify next of kin.
The Americans were two to three miles behind that front line before the attack was launched, the official added.
U.S. forces will continue to stay “deliberately behind the front lines,” the defense official said, but he acknowledged that the U.S. expects more ground fighting as the Iraqi and Kurdish militaries, backed by the U.S., push further into Islamic State-controlled territory.
Maj. Gen. Jaber Yawer, the Kurdish peshmerga spokesman, told The Associated Press that the American was killed by IS sniper fire near the town of Teleskof during an IS attack Tuesday that also involved a number of car bombs.
The pace of operations against IS is expected to increase in coming months as Iraqi forces prepare to retake Mosul, the country’s second-largest city, which has been in the hands of IS militants since 2014.
In March, the Pentagon announced the establishment of a small U.S. Marine base outside Mosul. The announcement followed an IS attack on the base that killed one Marine and wounded several others.
The first U.S. service member killed in Iraq was a special operations solider killed in a firefight in October 2015 during a raid on an Islamic State group prison.
Both Vice President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Carter have recently visited Baghdad in an effort to resolve internal political strife and concentrate on the effort to defeat the Islamic State group. The Obama administration has been pressing the effort against IS, which has been slowed down in its quest to overrun Iraq.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
I wonder if the sons of congressmen or the wealthy were in the military if the U.S. would be NOT going out full force against the middle east haters? God bless the service member and his family.
When did the Emperor allow work place violence to discarded? a POS claiming to be CIC should be tried for desertion or dereliction of duty by not allowing our VOLUNTEER military do what their mission DEMANDS. The Military was never intended to be a Social Club promoting left wing ideology. If WE are going to commit our people to hostile forces their mission should be very Clear . Search and Destroy or come home and play cribbage.
Very true! We have been playing that stupid shit since Korea and Vietnam and they didn’t want us either!
That this soldier should die in the furtherance of peace and the elimination of Islam is to be remembered for all time. I suppose that Obama is celebrating as he wants Islam to rule the world. What Obama says in public is another matter altogether. Like all of Islam it is the duty of Muslims to lie in the furtherance of their goals. This war is going to get worse until a decent president is installed in the White House and the full might of the USA is unleashed on terrorists and Islam. Islamophobic NO. Islam is the enemy.
God Bless his family, thank you for your service. I am so sorry that we have a POS President that can’t protect the American people and he has tied the military’s hands to defeat ISIS. May you RIP> Trump for President!!!!!!!
It is hard to figure where the fighting line is when we have a leader who constantly draws lines in the sand, then changes them according to his whim, brings the enemy back to behind the lines, the USA, and releases them to attack our backsides. Where is the enemy of our State, only God knows today.
The biggest enemy America has today resides in the People House. My biggest concern is – are there enough sane voters left to prevent Hillary from being allowed to steal the China again? The fact that an avowed Socialist is giving her a run for the money and if not for the DNC SELECTION COMMITTEE, aka known as Super Delegates the Bern might just defeat the China Thief. My Prayer is The Donald is in fact elected and I hope he brings the bomb squad with him. It’s going to take a year to clean out the bureaucrats that are doing more damage that the POS himself. The power of a Public employee union ( what a Oxymoron that is ) can keep these progressive ideologues on the payroll long after a POTUS has served his term of office.
obozo and biden Seriously?!?!?
Death is a constant possibility for our military. In battle you either kill or you get killed. Unlike the cartoons, battlefield casualties don’t get up and walk away once killed. It’s a shame our politicians don’t fully realize the scope of their decisions.
Thanks to the GHWBush family for fraudulently using the US military to invade Iraq, in order to acquire its oil and to remove Sadaam Hussein, who had stopped following Bush´s directives. Hussein and Iraq posed no threat to America and were not involved in 9-11. The US CIA and Isreali MOSSAD created ISIS-ISIL, fund and command ISIL, and Americans are slowing learning the truth about the misuse of the USMilitary. Biden´s presence suggests that he was investigating a financial opportunity, similar to the Ukraine involvement.
The Democrats had as much too do with Iraq as GWBush had. They ALL looked at the same INTEL. and agreed was necessary, based on the same INTEL. You sound like another BLOWHARD. Just BLAME BUSH.
You MORON.!!!!!!!!!!
You are so uneducated to the facts. We went to war based on the intel we had. And we told the enemy when we were going to attack. Do you really think we would find weapons of mass destruction with a give date of attack given the enemy. There was evidence found of chemical war fare preparations. I served in Desert Shield and Desert Storm, so I think I am more qualified than you about the facts.
Dennis Morgan, thank you sincerely for your patriotic service to our beloved America. Yes, you are in a much better position to discuss what really happens than that non-sense liberal. Also, to correct him further, we DIDNT take the oil…..big mistake!!
I THANK YOU FAMILY BUSH TOO .HE WAS STRONG AND USED MILITARY SHORT TIME .MAKE AMERICA GREAT …..AFTER 9/11 WE THE PEOPLE WERE SCARE THE WORLD.BUT PRESIDENT IS A WINER
drbhelthi? where do you get your informed information ? Pravda? Huffpo? Really curious because I don’t believe America confiscated one ounce of Iraqi oil. We built a multi million $$ gas station in the middle of nowhere but that was on Obamie’s watch, I think.
War is like Spaski/Fisher Chess Game played by the political parties and the wealthy using our family members as pawns. The least they could do is play to win ! Trump plays to win, …. I think !
Have’ya really wondered who Clinton would select as her VP running mate. Let’s see now. Kerry, the lying pig; Boxer, sea salt has effected her brain; Jerry Brown, the CA ding; Polosi, (geeze, please god, no). The list is disgustingly endless, how about that dumb ass Harry Reed. It’s like trying to select the best of Disney’s cartoon characters.
George, have you thought about her
husband in name only?
If she chooses over-sexed Bill Clinton she will gain votes from his liberal supporters…..i.e. she continues to tide his coat tail.