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An improvised explosive device killed an American service member in Syria, a U.S. military official said Friday, bringing to 14 the total number of American military personnel killed in action in Syria and Iraq since an operation against the Islamic State began.
The U.S.-led coalition said another service member also died in the attack Thursday night but declined to identify the person’s nationality. The coalition said five people were wounded.
Col. Ryan Dillon, a spokesman for the coalition, declined to provide the nationalities of the service members or to specify where in Syria the attack took place. The coalition said in a statement that the wounded were being evacuated for medical treatment and that the identities of the dead would be released at the discretion of their home authorities.
The incident underscored the risks facing coalition personnel across northern and central Syria as they transition from fighting the Islamic State to stabilizing areas that the militants left behind. The U.S. military has suffered 60 deaths since the operation to destroy the Islamic State began in 2014, of which 14 were so-called hostile deaths, or personnel killed in action. The others died in “non-hostile” circumstances during the operation such as aircraft and vehicle accidents.
The coalition does not break down the number of people killed in Syria versus Iraq. Deaths that occur in other countries in the region where the U.S. military is supporting the operation also are included in the figures.
The United States has more than 2,000 service members in Syria, many of them working with a Kurdish-dominated partner force.
Thursday’s attack appeared to have taken place in the northern city of Manbij, a former Islamic State stronghold that has become a critical flash point between Turkey and Kurdish fighters in Syria. While mutually antagonistic, both are key allies of the United States.
In an attempt to calm those tensions, U.S. forces conduct routine patrols in the area.
A local activist reported that an explosion occurred in the city’s southern district and that several helicopters appeared to have arrived to take away those affected. In a surprise announcement Thursday, President Trump seemed to signal that U.S. forces would be withdrawing from Syria in the near future. “By the way, we’re knocking the hell out of ISIS,” Trump said midway through an infrastructure speech in Ohio, using an alternate term for the Islamic State.
An improvised explosive device killed an American service member in Syria, a U.S. military official said Friday, bringing to 14 the total number of American military personnel killed in action in Syria and Iraq since an operation against the Islamic State began.
The U.S.-led coalition said another service member also died in the attack Thursday night but declined to identify the person’s nationality. The coalition said five people were wounded.
Col. Ryan Dillon, a spokesman for the coalition, declined to provide the nationalities of the service members or to specify where in Syria the attack took place. The coalition said in a statement that the wounded were being evacuated for medical treatment and that the identities of the dead would be released at the discretion of their home authorities.
The incident underscored the risks facing coalition personnel across northern and central Syria as they transition from fighting the Islamic State to stabilizing areas that the militants left behind. The U.S. military has suffered 60 deaths since the operation to destroy the Islamic State began in 2014, of which 14 were so-called hostile deaths, or personnel killed in action. The others died in “non-hostile” circumstances during the operation such as aircraft and vehicle accidents.
The coalition does not break down the number of people killed in Syria versus Iraq. Deaths that occur in other countries in the region where the U.S. military is supporting the operation also are included in the figures.
The United States has more than 2,000 service members in Syria, many of them working with a Kurdish-dominated partner force.
Thursday’s attack appeared to have taken place in the northern city of Manbij, a former Islamic State stronghold that has become a critical flash point between Turkey and Kurdish fighters in Syria. While mutually antagonistic, both are key allies of the United States.
In an attempt to calm those tensions, U.S. forces conduct routine patrols in the area.
A local activist reported that an explosion occurred in the city’s southern district and that several helicopters appeared to have arrived to take away those affected. In a surprise announcement Thursday, President Trump seemed to signal that U.S. forces would be withdrawing from Syria in the near future. “By the way, we’re knocking the hell out of ISIS,” Trump said midway through an infrastructure speech in Ohio, using an alternate term for the Islamic State.
