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U.S. Marine in Iraq becomes the second combat death in war against Islamic State U.S. Marine in Iraq becomes the second combat death in war against Islamic State
(35 minutes later)
IRBIL, Iraq — A U.S. Marine was killed near the front line with the Islamic State in northern Iraq on Saturday, becoming the second combat casualty of the war against the militants, according to the U.S. military and Iraqi officials.IRBIL, Iraq — A U.S. Marine was killed near the front line with the Islamic State in northern Iraq on Saturday, becoming the second combat casualty of the war against the militants, according to the U.S. military and Iraqi officials.
The Marine died when Islamic State militants fired two rockets into a small U.S. base in Makhmour, a front-line town controlled by Kurdish peshmerga forces on the outskirts of the region of Kurdistan, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials. The Marine died when Islamic State militants fired rockets into a small U.S. base in Makhmour, a front-line town controlled by Kurdish peshmerga forces on the outskirts of the region of Kurdistan, U.S. officials said.
“Several” other Marines also were injured in the rocket attack, according to a Pentagon statement. An earlier statement by the military had not specified which branch of the military the U.S. service member who died had belonged to. “Several” other Marines also were injured in the rocket attack, according to a Pentagon statement. An earlier statement had not specified which branch of the military had been involved.
A senior Iraqi army officer in Makhmour said the rockets landed about 8:20 a.m. on Saturday on the American camp, a small, closely guarded facility where U.S. advisers have been based for several months helping Iraqi army and peshmerga forces battle Islamic State fighters nearby and preparing for an offensive to recapture the major Iraqi city of Mosul, which the Islamic State has controlled since June 2014. A senior Iraqi army officer in Makhmour said two rockets landed about 8:20 a.m. on Saturday on the U.S. camp, a small, closely guarded facility where American advisers have been based for several months helping Iraqi army and peshmerga forces battle Islamic State fighters nearby and preparing for an offensive to recapture the key Iraqi city of Mosul.
[Pentagon: Iraqi units move into Kurdistan in prep for battle of Mosul][Pentagon: Iraqi units move into Kurdistan in prep for battle of Mosul]
The American base lies within a larger peshmerga base and next to an Iraqi army base on the outskirts of Makhmour, south of the Kurdish regional capital of Irbil. The town was briefly seized by the Islamic State in 2014 then recaptured after U.S. airstrikes were launched. The death ”reminds us of the risks our men and women in uniform face every day,” the Pentagon statement said.
Makhmour is expected to become a major focus of any offensive to gain control of Mosul, and Iraqi army reinforcements have begun arriving there in recent weeks in preparation for the operation. The Iraqi officer said mortars frequently target the Iraqi army base there, and it was unclear whether the rounds that killed the Marine on Saturday were deliberately targeting the U.S. base or had been aimed at the Iraqi army. “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,” it added, using an acronym to refer to the Islamic State.
The town is administered by the Kurdistan Regional Government, but Baghdad claims it is part of Iraq. U.S. officials did not specify the precise role of the Americans serving on the base. But elite Marine Raiders are deployed in Iraq with a mission similar to that of the Special Operations forces deployed there.
On Wednesday, Brett McGurk, the U.S. special envoy to the coalition formed to fight the Islamic State, declined to predict when the offensive might take place, but he said it had effectively already begun, with operations elsewhere aimed at severing supply routes and isolating the city. “It’s already started. . . . It’s a slow steady squeeze,” he told a forum at the American University of Iraq at Sulaymaniyah that was held to discuss Iraq’s future. The base lies within a larger peshmerga facility and next to an Iraqi army base on the outskirts of Makhmour, a town 30 miles south of Irbil, the Kurdish regional capital that the Islamic State seized briefly in 2014.
He indicated that the launch of a full-scale offensive may yet take time. “It’s going to be a long campaign,” he said. “Mosul, that will be one of the biggest tests.” Makhmour is expected to become a major focus of any offensive to take Mosul, and Iraqi army reinforcements have begun arriving there in recent weeks in preparation. The Iraqi officer said that mortar and rocket fire frequently hits the Iraqi army base, making it unclear whether the attack that killed the Marine was targeting the Americans.
The first U.S. combat casualty in the 19-month-old campaign against the Islamic State came in October, during a Special Operations raid to free Islamic State prisoners in the northern Iraqi town of Hawijah. The military identified the soldier in that incident as Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler, 39, of Roland, Okla. Brett McGurk, the U.S. special envoy to the coalition formed to fight the Islamic State, last week declined to predict when the offensive might take place, but he said it had effectively already begun, with operations elsewhere aimed at severing supply routes and isolating the city. “It’s already started. . . . It’s a slow, steady squeeze,” he told a forum at the American University of Iraq at Sulaymaniyah.
He indicated that a full-scale offensive may take time. “It’s going to be a long campaign,” he said.
The first U.S. combat casualty in the 19-month-old campaign came in October, during a Special Operations raid to free Islamic State prisoners in the northern Iraqi town of Hawijah. The military identified the slain soldier as Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler, 39, of Roland, Okla.
Salim reported from Baghdad. Dan Lamothe in Washington contributed to this report.Salim reported from Baghdad. Dan Lamothe in Washington contributed to this report.
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