US service member killed in Iraq hostage rescue attempt
Iran Press TV
Thu Oct 22, 2015 2:15PM
One US special operations soldier has been killed in Iraq during a rescue operation to free hostages from the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group, US military officials say.
US special operations forces attempted to rescue a group of Kurdish hostages in Iraq the night before, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said in a statement Thursday.
Around 70 hostages were successfully rescued during the operation, Cook said.
The operation was conducted in the city of Hawijah, which is located in Iraq's Kirkuk province.
Iraqi officials say that Kurdish and Iraqi forces were also involved in the rescue operation.
'It was a deliberately planned operation but it was also done with the knowledge that imminent action was needed to save the lives of these people,' an unnamed US military official said.
The US special operations member who died was the first American killed since Washington began its military campaign against Daesh in August 2014.
US ground troops have rarely, if ever, participated directly in combat operations against Daesh terrorists. The US has largely limited its role to "training" and "advising" Iraqi and Kurdish forces and conducting airstrikes against ISIL.
The American-led military intervention against purported Daesh positions in Iraq started in June, 2014. A similar coalition began in Syria in September.
However, many observers say that while the US and its allies claim they are fighting against terrorist groups like Daesh, they in fact helped create and train those organizations to advance their policies in the Middle East.
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