US-Led Coalition service member killed by IED in Iraq
A member of the U.S.-led Coalition against Islamic State was killed by an improvised explosive device during operations in Iraq, Operation Inherent Resolve said on Monday.
The Coalition said in a press release that a service member was killed and a second injured on Sunday when an IED struck their vehicle in Iraq.
The identities of the casualties have not been released, and the Coalition said the circumstances surrounding the incident would be released at the discretion “of the pertinent national authorities.”
Coalition service members are currently supporting the Iraqi Security Forces in a battle to retake the Iraqi city of Hawija from ISIS.
Two U.S. troops were killed and five others wounded in August during combat operations near Tal Afar, and a soldier from France’s 13th Parachute Dragoon Regiment, a special forces reconnaissance unit, was killed in “the Levant” on September 23
Update October 3
The U.S. Department of Defense named the soldier killed as Specialist Alexander W. Missildine, 20, of Tyler, Texas. He was a motor transport operator assigned to the 710th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Polk, Louisiana.
@CJTFOIR thoughts & prayers w/ family & fellow troopers of US Army Spc. Alexander W. Missildine. Coalition remains committed to #DefeatDaesh
— OIR Spokesperson (@OIRSpox) October 3, 2017
A previous recipient of a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart, Missildine was killed in Salah ad-Din Province, Iraq, as a result of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his convoy.
He was the eighth U.S. service member killed in action in Iraq and Syria in 2017, and the 13th since operations against ISIS began in 2014.