A US service member was killed in an improvised explosive device attack Thursday in northern Iraq, the US-led coalition announced. Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, in a statement, did not disclose if the attack was related to the ongoing effort to liberate Mosul, only that it occurred in the northern part of the country. Additional details will be announced “as appropriate,” and the name of the service member was not released. There are more than 5,200 US troops on the ground inside Iraq advising the Iraqi military, along with an unkown number of air controllers assisting with airstrikes as part of the Mosul offensive, US officials have said. This is the fourth US service member killed as part of Operation Inherent Resolve since it began in 2014.
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
