© Moadh Al-Dulaimi/AFP/Getty Images Iraqi government forces gesture from their vehicles in the village of Mohammadi, a few miles north of Hit, in Iraq's western province of Anbar on March 18, 2016.
One U.S. Marine was killed and several others were wounded Saturday at a northern Iraqi base after it came under rocket attack from Islamic State militants, Pentagon officials said.
"A U.S. Marine providing force protection fire support at a recently established coalition fire base near Makhmur in northern Iraq was killed after coming under ISIL rocket fire," said Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook, using an acronym for the Islamic State. "Several other Marines were wounded and they are being treated for their varying injuries."
Cook said the names of the dead and wounded Marines were being withheld pending notification of their relatives.
The last American servicemember to be killed in combat in Iraq was Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler, 39, who died in October.
Wheeler, a Special Forces soldier from Roland, Okla., was killed in a raid that freed 70 Islamic State hostages from a makeshift prison in northern Iraq. He was the first soldier to die in combat in Iraq since 2011 when U.S. forces withdrew after more than eight years of combat there.
"This is the second combat death since the start of Operation Inherent Resolve, and it reminds us of the risks our men and women in uniform face everyday," Cook said Saturday. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the service members involved, their families and their coalition teammates who will continue the fight against ISIL with resolve and determination."
Source by: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-marine-killed-in-isil-rocket-attack-on-iraq-base/ar-BBqFD0f
0 comments:
Post a Comment