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                Coalition Identifies US Commando Killed in Iraq

   by VOA News

   The U.S.-led coalition in Iraq has identified the American commando
   killed by Islamic State gunfire during a rescue mission in northern
   Iraq.

   A coalition spokesman identified him Friday as Master Sergeant Joshua
   Wheeler. He was the first U.S. service member killed in combat in the
   year-long campaign against IS extremists.

   Wheeler was fatally wounded during a joint rescue operation involving
   U.S. and Iraqi Kurdish fighters who raided an Islamic State compound in
   Hawijah, west of Kirkuk. American and Iraqi special forces freed about
   70 hostages, including at least 22 members of Iraqi security forces,
   who reportedly had been facing "imminent execution" at the hands of
   their captors.

   Despite Wheeler's death, the Pentagon has denied that U.S. forces are
   on an active combat mission in Iraq.  A senior U.S. defense official
   said dozens of Kurdish and American fighters took part in the rescue
   mission Wednesday night and Thursday morning, in coordination with
   Iraq's Kurdish regional government.

   Wheeler was hit by small-arms fire during the operation, the U.S.
   Defense Department said. He was part of an Army special operations unit
   based at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/coalition-identifies-us-commando-kill
   ed-in-iraq/3020093.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/coalition-identifies-us-commando-killed-in-iraq/3020093.html