Sacrifice. One of our own made a successful heroing attempt at freeing 70 ISIS captives. Read more of this selfless story below.
One U.S Army Special Operator was killed this passed week, sources confirmed on Thursday, during a gun fight in the pursuit of rescuing and freeing 70 hostages being held captive by ISIS. This is the very first time one of our soldiers have lost their lives during the U.S’s battle with ISIS. According to The Pentagon, our hero passed after receiving medical treatment and offered his “sincere condolences” to his family.
The hostages were members of the Iraqi Army as well as police. Some of those who were saved were part of the “Sunni Awakening”, the fight against Al Quaeda from nearly a decade ago that saw Sunnis alongside U.S forces. Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook revealed that more than 20 members of the Iraqi Security Forces were freed. U.S forces killed 10 ISIS hostage takers and Iraqi forces detained 5 ISIS terrorists as well.
The Arab prisoners were freed from an ISIS prison in northern Iraq, near Hawijah. Before and after the gunfight, the U.S military bombarded the prison with airstrikes, leaving it in ruins, once the overnight battle ceased. Kurdish Special Operations known as Pershmerga aided the U.S in the rescue alongside 5 U.S Spec Ops helicopters. Four Pershmerga soldiers were reported wounded. “People were chained to walls,” one military source confirmed.
The senior defense official stated the U.S provided “enabling support”, including transportation, intelligence, and advice. According to the official, the mission was launched from Irbil, with no Westerners rescued.
