(VOVworld) – US Special Forces helped Kurd and Iraqi forces rescue 70 IS hostages facing “imminent mass execution” early Thursday morning at a prison near Hawijah, Iraq, but one American service member was killed in the operation.

The US special force in Iraq (Photo: AP)

The commando became the first American combat death in Iraq since a US-led alliance launched air strikes against the IS in June, 2014.
Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said 5 IS gunmen were captured and several others were killed. He said the hostages, including 20 members of the Iraqi Security Forces and some local residents, were fired by a helicopter assault.
General Lloyd Austin, commander of the US Central Command, described the mission as "complex and highly successful."