U.S. service member killed during combat operation in Iraq

A United States service member who was advising Iraqi security forces was killed Saturday in the northern Nineveh province of Iraq, according to the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

PHOTO: U.S. Army soldiers from the 3rd Special Troops Battalion use smoke to take cover from snipers as they make their way to their vehicles from a patrol base in the Shiite enclave of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq. — U.S. Army soldiers from the 3rd Special Troops Battalion use smoke to take cover from snipers as they make their way to their vehicles from a patrol base in the Shiite enclave of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq.

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“One U.S. service member died today during an Iraqi Security Force mission in Ninewah province, Iraq, while advising and accompanying the (Iraqi security forces) during a planned operation,” the statement said.

The name of the service member will be withheld until notification of next of kin, the statement said.

PHOTO: David Hedge from Bealeton, Va., front, and fellow soldiers from 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment are bathed in rotor wash moments after arriving by Blackhawk helicopter north of Baghdad, Iraq — David Hedge from Bealeton, Va., front, and fellow soldiers from 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment are bathed in rotor wash moments after arriving by Blackhawk helicopter north of Baghdad, Iraq

Approximately 5,000 troops are currently stationed in Iraq as part of a security agreement with the Iraqi government to train, advise, and assist the country’s troops in the fight against Islamic State, which overran large parts of Iraq in 2014.

Iraqi forces have recently launched operations in the country’s north to weed out remnants of Islamic State group.

This is the first combat-related death of an American service member in Iraq this year. Two American service members and a Defense Department civilian were killed in Manbij, Syria in January as part of the US-led coalition fighting ISIS there.