70 hostages freed, US soldier killed in Iraq rescue

WASHINGTON: Backed by US special operations forces, Kurdish troops stormed an Islamic State prison in Iraq early on Thursday, freeing 70 hostages in a high-stakes operation that left a US servicemember dead, the Pentagon said.
Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said five IS militants were captured and others were killed in the raid on a compound near Hawijah, Iraq. He said servicemember died of wounds suffered during the rescue mission.
“This operation was deliberately planned and launched after receiving information that the hostages faced imminent mass execution,” Cook said in a statement.
“It was authorised consistent with our counter-ISIL effort to train, advise, and assist Iraqi forces,” he added, using an alternate acronym for Islamic State, the militant group that has sought to carve an Islamic caliphate out of large parts of Iraq and Syria.
Cook said US helicopters and special operations forces accompanied Kurdish peshmerga forces to the prison compound.
One of the Americans was wounded “acting in support of Iraqi peshmerga forces after they came under fire from ISIL,” and subsequently died after receiving medical attention, he said. “Approximately 70 hostages were rescued including more than 20 members of the Iraqi security forces.
“Five ISIL terrorists were detained by the Iraqis and a number of ISIL terrorists were killed as well. In addition, the US recovered important intelligence about ISIL,” Cook said.
General Lloyd Austin, the commander of all US forces in the Middle East, described the rescue operation as “complex and highly successful.”
“We commend and congratulate the brave individuals who participated in this successful operation that saved many lives, and we deeply mourn the loss of one of our own who died while supporting his Iraqi comrades engaged in a tough fight,” he said.