U.S. service member killed in Iraq after rocket attack

[EC]

 (CNN)An American service member was killed in an indirect fire rocket attack on a base at Makhmur in northern Iraq, a U.S. official told CNN Saturday.

The base is located where the U.S. conducts advise-and-assist activities. The service member was on security duties there for force protection. A small number of other American troops were wounded in the attack, but the official declined to say how many or how seriously.

The official did not identify the service member killed as the family has not yet been notified.

The Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve confirmed the death of a coalition service member in a news release.

The last U.S. service member to be killed in Iraq as a result of hostile enemy action was Army soldier Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler, of Roland, Oklahoma, who died in October during a rescue mission in northern Iraq. Wheeler was the first American to die in combat in Iraq since November 2011.

CNN's Jamie Crawford contributed to this report.

Autoplaying video at link: http://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/19/politics/u-s-service-member-killed-in-iraq-after-rocket-attack/index.html

[EC]

Bumping, because bugger this dropping off the front page.

[Charlespg]

(CNN)An American service member was killed in an indirect fire rocket attack on a base at Makhmur in northern Iraq, a U.S. official told CNN Saturday.

The base is located where the U.S. conducts advise-and-assist activities. The service member was on security duties there for force protection. A small number of other American troops were wounded in the attack, but the official declined to say how many or how seriously.

The official did not identify the service member killed as the family has not yet been notified.

The Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve confirmed the death of a coalition service member in a news release.

The last U.S. service member to be killed in Iraq as a result of hostile enemy action was Army soldier Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler, of Roland, Oklahoma, who died in October during a rescue mission in northern Iraq. Wheeler was the first American to die in combat in Iraq since November 2011.

CNN's Jamie Crawford contributed to this report.

Autoplaying video at link: http://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/19/politics/u-s-service-member-killed-in-iraq-after-rocket-attack/index.html

prayers for his family 

[EC]

I'm hearing 6 injured. Nothing official yet.

[mountaineer]

New York Times

WASHINGTON — A United States Marine was killed on Saturday after a base in northern Iraq came under attack from Islamic State fighters, a Pentagon official said. It was the second death of an American service member in combat since the United States first struck the militant group in 2014.

The Marine, who was not immediately identified, died from rocket fire, according to a statement from Peter Cook, Pentagon press secretary. Several other Marines were also wounded in the attack by fighters of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

Saturday’s attack occurred on a coalition base near Makhmur, where American trainers and advisers are assisting Iraqi Kurds as they prepare for a push to regain Mosul from the Islamic State. That effort  is expected to involve a long, difficult fight.

Success against the Sunni militants in Mosul would be a major victory, potentially strengthening assertions in Washington that the Islamic State is on the run in Iraq. Yet the Marine’s death offered a reminder of the risks to American troops, even in their advisory role.

The statement from Mr. Cook said the Marine died while “providing force protection fire support,” a military term that describes efforts to actively defend a base under attack.

The death came two days after Secretary of State John Kerry declared that the Islamic State had committed genocide against Christians, Yazidis and Shiite Muslims in Syria and Iraq. While significant symbolically, Mr. Kerry’s statement marked no change in policy, as the United States is already leading the coalition fighting the Islamic State and has been actively bombing its militants, operations and facilities.

God bless him.

[EC]

An American Marine from Temecula in Southern California was killed in Iraq by indirect fire, defense officials announced Sunday.

Staff Sgt. Louis F. Cardin died Saturday in northern Iraq from wounds suffered when his unit was attacked with rocket fire, according to a news release by the Department of Defense.

ISIS fired a rocket at a small outpost near Mahmour, south of Mosul, where U.S. military service members are advising Iraqi security forces, U.S. military officials told NBC News. Three others were also injured in the attack.

Cardin was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

The last U.S. service member killed in Iraq was in October 2015.

The incident is under investigation.

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/US-Marine-Killed-by-ISIS-Iraq-Identified-Temecula-372858991.html