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US serviceman killed in Iraq as IS breaches Peshmerga lines US Navy Seal killed in Iraq as IS breaches Peshmerga lines
(about 3 hours later)
A US serviceman has been killed in northern Iraq, US Defence Secretary Ash Carter has said. A US Navy Seal who was advising Kurdish Peshmerga forces in northern Iraq has been killed by Islamic State (IS) militants, US defence officials say.
Mr Carter told reporters that the death was the result of enemy fire, but provided no further details. The special warfare operator, who has not been named, died as a result of a gunshot wound, the Navy Times reported.
The US-led coalition against so-called Islamic State said the American had been advising Kurdish Peshmerga troops. Peshmerga officials said the militants breached the frontline north of the IS-held city of Mosul on Tuesday morning.
He was killed about 5km (3 miles) behind the Peshmerga's frontline with IS after militants penetrated it using a convoy of truck bombs, it added. The American was the third to be killed in combat since the US-led coalition campaign against IS began in 2014.
A senior Peshmerga official told the Reuters news agency that the death occurred near Tel Asqof, a town 28km (17 miles) north of Mosul, which was overrun by IS on Tuesday. Although Iraqi pro-government forces have gradually pushed back IS since then with the help of US-led coalition air strikes and military advisers, the jihadist group still controls large parts of the country's north and west.
Tal Asqof, a predominantly Christian town, was later recaptured by the Peshmerga fighters and Christian militiamen. IS offensive
The Peshmerga official said early information suggested the soldier was killed by a sniper. The Navy Seal's death was announced by US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter, who said only that a serviceman had died as a result of enemy fire near Irbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdistan Region.
A US official, who did not want to be named, told Reuters that the soldier was killed "by direct fire" from IS "It is a combat death, of course, and a very sad loss," he told reporters in Germany.
"It is a combat death, of course, and a very sad loss," US Defence Secretary Ash Carter said. A US military official in Iraq subsequently said he was killed by "direct fire" at a Peshmerga position about 3 to 5km (2-3 miles) behind the frontline after it was penetrated by IS militants.
Earlier, there were reports that IS militants had attacked on multiple fronts in northern Iraq overnight. A Peshmerga spokesman, Maj Gen Jaber Yawer, told the Associated Press that the American was shot dead by an IS sniper near the town of Tal Asqof, about 28km (17 miles) from Mosul.
An Iraqi military source told the BBC that special forces had foiled an attack by five suicide bombers in the village of Khirbirdan, south of the IS-held city of Mosul. IS militants overran the town at dawn on Tuesday in an assault that involved a number of truck bombs, but were driven out later in the day by Peshmerga fighters.
The attack on Tal Asqof was part of a major offensive launched by IS militants in northern Iraq, which the group said involved "remotely-guided car bombs".
An Iraqi military source told the BBC that special forces had foiled an attack by five suicide bombers in the village of Khirbirdan, south of Mosul.
A Peshmerga source said an attack on Wardak, east of Mosul, was also repelled.A Peshmerga source said an attack on Wardak, east of Mosul, was also repelled.
Since the US launched a military campaign against IS in Iraq in August 2014, the Peshmerga have driven the group back around Irbil and advanced towards Mosul. Additional advisers
US fighting force
There are more than 5,500 US military personnel in Iraq. Some 3,870 are deployed to advise and assist local forces fighting IS militants.There are more than 5,500 US military personnel in Iraq. Some 3,870 are deployed to advise and assist local forces fighting IS militants.
The remainder includes special operations personnel, logistics workers and troops on temporary rotations.The remainder includes special operations personnel, logistics workers and troops on temporary rotations.
Last month, the US announced it planned to send 200 additional advisers to Iraq by the end of the year and deploy them closer to the frontlines so that they could assist in the operation to retake Mosul. Last month, the US announced that it planned to send 200 additional advisers to Iraq by the end of the year and deploy them closer to the frontlines so that they could assist in the operation to retake Mosul.
The US serviceman whose death was announced on Tuesday is the third to have been killed in Iraq as a result of hostile enemy action since IS took control of large swathes of the country two years ago. In March, US Marine Staff Sgt Louis Cardin was killed in a rocket attack by IS while providing force protection fire support at a coalition firebase near Makhmour, south-west of Mosul, that had only become operational a few days earlier.
In March, Marine Staff Sgt Louis Cardin was killed in a rocket attack by IS while providing force protection fire support at a coalition firebase near Makhmour, south-west of Mosul, that had only become operational a few days earlier. US Army Master Sgt Joshua Wheeler died in October during a special forces mission to rescue hostages held at an IS prison near Hawija, west of Kirkuk.
Army Master Sgt Joshua Wheeler died in October during a special forces mission to rescue hostages held at an IS prison near Hawija, west of Kirkuk.