U.S., Kurds stage dramatic hostage rescue

IRBIL, Iraq — Acting on word of an “imminent mass execution” by Islamic State militants, dozens of U.S. special operations troops and Iraqi forces raided a northern Iraqi compound Thursday, freeing about 70 Iraqi prisoners in an operation that saw the first American killed in combat in the country since the U.S. campaign against ISIL began in 2014, officials said.

The raiders killed and captured a number of militants and recovered what the Pentagon called a trove of valuable intelligence about the terrorist organization.

The U.S. service member who died was not publicly identified pending notification of relatives. Officials said this was the first American combat death in Iraq since the U.S. began its counter-ISIL military campaign in August 2014.

Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said the target of the raid was a prison near the town of Hawija and that the raid was undertaken at the request of the Kurdish Regional Government, the semi-autonomous body that governs the Kurdish region of northern Iraq. He said U.S. special operations forces supported what he called an Iraqi peshmerga rescue operation.

The peshmerga are the Kurdish region’s organized militia. The U.S. has worked closely with them in training and advising roles, but this was the first known instance of U.S. ground forces operating alongside Iraqi forces in combat since launching Operation Inherent Resolve last year.

“This operation was deliberately planned and launched after receiving information that the hostages faced imminent mass execution,” Cook said, adding later it appeared the hostages faced death “perhaps within hours” and that freed hostages told authorities some had been killed at the prison recently, prior to the rescue.

U.S. combat troops have rarely, if ever, participated directly in combat against ISIL fighters on the ground since the U.S. mission began in 2014. The U.S. has mostly limited its role to training and advising Iraqi and Kurdish forces, airdropping humanitarian relief supplies and providing daily airstrikes in ISIL-held areas of Iraq and Syria.

Cook said it was a “unique” circumstance for the U.S. military in Iraq, although he would not say that it was the only time U.S. forces have engaged in a form of ground combat in Iraq as part of Operation Inherent Resolve. He said it was in keeping with the parameters of the U.S. military’s role in Iraq.

“They are allowed to defend themselves, and also defend partner forces, and to protect against the loss of innocent life,” Cook said. “And that’s what played out in this particular operation.”

In a separate statement, the Kurdish government said the operation lasted about two hours and was led by its counterterrorism forces, with support from coalition troops. It made no mention of intelligence indicating the captives were in imminent danger of being killed, as asserted by the Pentagon.

The Kurdish statement said more than 20 ISIL fighters were killed in the operation. It said 69 hostages were freed, none of whom were Kurds, and it thanked the Americans for their bravery.

The Islamic State group released a communiqué late Thursday dismissing what it called “a failed operation” since peshmerga fighters were not among the rescued hostages. The statement could not immediately be verified, but it was distributed on Twitter accounts with links to the group.

The circumstances in which the U.S. military member was killed were unclear, but one U.S. official said the American had been shot in a firefight at the scene. Cook said the service member was wounded during the mission and died after receiving medical care.