ARA News 

ERBIL – A US soldier was killed in an Islamic State (ISIS) rocket attack on Saturday in the Iraqi military base of Karasur in the Makhmour region. This is the second US casualty in the war against ISIS. 

“The Combined Joint Task Force extends our condolences to the family and loved ones of the Coalition service member killed in northern Iraq earlier today,” Col. Christopher Garver, spokesperson for the CJTF, told ARA News.  “We mourn the loss of one of our own in the continuing fight against Da’esh.”

The attack was also confirmed by the ISIS-linked news agency Amaq. “An American soldier was killed today on Saturday as a result of bombing undertaken by Islamic State  fighters on Makhmour district southeast Ninawa [Nineveh],” Amaq said. “And that came after he was injured as a result of the falling of two Grad rockets before noon today on the Iraqi forces camp near the village of Karasur in the Makhmour district.” 

The Islamic State has most likely used drones in the attack. “Reconnaissance drones are nothing new,” said Aymenn Jawad Al Tamimi, a research fellow at the Middle East Forum–a US think tank. “Even other groups use drones now. Like Jabhat al-Nusra,” he added. 

Nevertheless, the US coalition forces say they will continue the fight against the Islamic State. “The fight against ISIL [ISIS] will continue. The United States remained committed to partner with Iraq to defeat this enemy,” US anti-ISIS coalition spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said in an interview with ARA News on Saturday.

Source: ARA News