During a secret overnight operation, US special operations forces rescued about 70 Kurdish hostages in northern Iraq and one American was killed, CNN reported on Thursday, citing an unidentified US official.
The operation took place in Hawija, in northern Iraq, and also involved Iraqi and Kurdish forces.
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But other details of the operation, including how the US soldier was killed or why exactly it took place, were initially unclear. The US military or White House have not yet responded.
The last American that was killed in Iraq was in 2011, during the last months of the Iraq War. This is the first US combat fatality on the ground in the fight against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
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