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Islamic State: Kurdish hostages freed but US soldier killed Islamic State: US-Iraqi rescue operation 'foils mass execution'
(about 1 hour later)
A US-Iraqi military operation has freed 70 Kurdish hostages held by Islamic State (IS) in Iraq, but one US soldier was killed, US media reports say. US-Iraqi forces have rescued dozens of hostages held by Islamic State (IS) in Iraq after learning of their "imminent" execution, the Pentagon has said.
The early morning raid on Thursday took place near the town of Hawija, in the mostly Kurdish province of Kirkuk. But a US soldier wounded in the raid died of his injuries - the first killed in action since US operations against IS began last year.
A number of IS militants were also captured, the New York Times reported. The early morning operation on Thursday took place near the town of Hawija in northern Iraq.
If the death is confirmed, it would be the first US soldier killed in action since the US began its offensive against IS last year. Five IS militants were captured and a number killed, the Pentagon said.
A Pentagon statement on the operation is due shortly. The raid targeted an IS-held prison near Hawija, in the predominantly Kurdish province of Kirkuk.
The raid saw special forces flown by helicopter to a prison run by IS, the media reports said. The US military were involved at the invitation of the Kurdistan regional government, the Pentagon said.
US and Kurdish special forces, as well as Iraqi troops, were said to be involved in the operation. American helicopters flew troops to the site, with Kurdish special forces taking the lead but with US ones on the ground.
"They cut off roads and raided the place successfully. They were able to take people with them," Najmaldin Karim, governor of Kirkuk Province where Hawija is located, told the New York Times. "This operation was deliberately planned and launched after receiving information that the hostages faced imminent mass execution," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement.
Kurdish forces have been battling to retake villages in Kirkuk province held by IS in recent weeks. "It was authorized consistent with our counter-ISIL effort to train, advise, and assist Iraqi forces," he added, using an alternative acronym for IS.
The US soldier killed was said to have come under fire from IS militants during the operation.
Gen Lloyd Austin, who heads the US military's Central Command, said "we deeply mourn the loss of one of our own who died while supporting his Iraqi comrades engaged in a tough fight".
A US-led coalition has been carrying out daily air strikes on IS positions in Iraq and Syria for more than a year.
The raid on the prison in northern Iraqi comes amid a fresh push by Iraqi and Kurdish forces to captured territory seized by IS.