A member of a US special operations team was killed during a hostage rescue operation in northern Iraq. This is the first American killed in ground combat with Islamic State militants, officials said.
The rescue operation was mounted Wednesday night in the area of Hawija, an Islamic State stronghold west of Kirkuk. About 70 Kurds held by Islamic State (previously ISIS/ISIL) were freed successfully, according to CNN, but one American was killed.
Other outlets reported conflicting accounts of the mission. Helicopter-borne rescuers targeted a makeshift prison in Hawija where Kurdish hostages were held, one source told Reuters, while another said that US Special Forces raided a house where senior ISIS commanders were gathered, and that gunfire and explosions could be heard for several hours.
Citing unidentified sources, NBC News reported that the rescued captives were Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, and that the operation was requested by the Iraqi government. NBC added that US forces have suffered casualties, but did not give details on the number of injured or killed.
READ MORE: US Special Forces kill senior ISIS commander in Syria raid – DoD
In addition to the air campaign launched in October 2014, US Special Forces have raided Islamic State objectives inside Iraq and Syria. One such operation in May resulted in the death of Abu Sayyaf, a senior IS leader.
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