Two US-led coalition personnel killed in Syria

beirut — An American was among two members of the USled anti-militant coalition killed by an improvised explosive device in the northern Syrian city of Manbij, the US military and a monitor said on Friday.

Five other coalition members were wounded, the Pentagon said.

The attack in Manbij, a city where US personnel are stationed, happened late Thursday — the day US President Donald Trump said he would pull out forces ‘very soon’.

“Two coalition personnel were killed and five were wounded by an improvised explosive device in Syria” at around midnight (2100 GMT), the coalition said in a statement which gave no further details about the victims.

A Pentagon official, speaking later on condition of anonymity, identified one of them as being American. The nationality of the second fatality was not released, said the official, adding that the victim was not French.

Since 2014 the coalition has provided weapons, training and other support to forces fighting Daesh militants in Syria and Iraq.

This latest incident brings the number of US personnel killed in action during the operation to 14.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The US-led coalition said it was withholding details on the circumstances of the attack pending further investigation.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack hit a convoy in the heart of Manbij, also wounding four members of the local council.

Manbij used to be a hub for the militants when their selfstyled ‘caliphate’ was at its peak. It was retaken by Kurdish-led forces backed by the coalition.

Located between the northern city of Aleppo and the western bank of the Euphrates, less than 30 kilometres ‘ south of the Turkish border, Manbij lies where several international influence zones meet and risks becoming a new flashpoint. —

2,000 US military personnel in eastern Syria