Pentagon officials didn’t disclose the circumstances of Wheeler’s death, saying only that he was wounded during the firefight and died later while receiving medical treatment.
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The raid marked an apparent break with the stated role of USA forces, who are in Iraq to support government forces but do not directly engage in combat in line with Obama’s “no boots on the ground” policy. Islamic State militants attacked Kurdish positions on the frontline in Gwer, south of the region’s capital, overnight on Friday, after the raid.
“It was authorized consistent with our counter-ISIL effort to train, advise and assist Iraqi forces”, he said, using another acronym for the terrorist group.
We move on to the extraordinary new video, purportedly takes you inside the Se special operations raid deep in sister toir, a daring mission that killed a decorated an American officer and father of four. It was the first time USA troops had become involved in direct ground combat in Iraq since the war against the Islamic State was launched in August 2014. “We had solid intelligence that peshmerga were being held in that compound”, the source told Reuters.
The United States has retained a force of 3,500 troops in the country in a training and advisory capacity.
“They were in need of protection so the USA troops engaged to finish the job”. “And that’s what played out in this particular operation”.
ISIS called the operation “unsuccessful” but acknowledged casualties among its fighters.
Later after the rescue, the hostages revealed that ISIS had informed them that they would be executed after morning prayers.
Islamic State holds hostages in detention centres across the sprawling lands it controls. The statement could not immediately be verified, but it was distributed on Twitter accounts with links to the group.
On Thursday, US Special Operations Forces and Kurdish forces stormed an IS-run prison near Hawijah in northern Iraq, freeing a few 70 captives who were facing imminent execution.
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The hero soldier was killed Thursday near the Iraqi town of Hawija after rushing to protect Kurdish soldiers on a mission to rescue ISIS prisoners. But senior Iraqi Shi’ite politician Ayad Allawi said he suspected there must have been significant figures among the hostages to warrant a risky intervention by USA special forces.
