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Iraq: Two US soldiers killed during Isis raid

5,200 troops remain in region to 'eliminate Isis threat'

Alex Woodward
New York
Monday 09 March 2020 14:02 GMT
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The attack on ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi

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Two American soldiers have been killed in an Isis raid in north-central Iraq.

The troops died in a joint operation with Iraqi Security Forces on Sunday night, military officials confirmed.

Their names are being withheld until their families are notified.

The troops were part of a mission to eliminate an Isis stronghold in the region, according to the Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve, the US-led effort under the US Department of Defense organised against Isis in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

No further details were immediately available.

In January, an American contractor was killed and several service members were injured during a rocket attack in Kirkuk.

Another previously reported hostile incident was in August 2019, when Marine Sgt Scott Koppenhafer and an American contractor were killed in the Nineveh province.

Roughly 5,200 US troops have been deployed to Iraq to eliminate Isis from the region.

Earlier this year, Iraq's parliament voted to urge the withdrawal of foreign troops in the region following a US airstrike in January that killed Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, who was inside the country.

Donald Trump's administration does not intend to remove troops from the region.

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