Coalition identifies US commando killed in raid in northern Iraq as Joshua L. Wheeler
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq has identified the commando killed in a raid against the Islamic State group in northern Iraq as Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler.
Army Col. Steve Warren said Friday that Wheeler, 39, was killed a day earlier when dozens of U.S. special operations troops and Iraqi forces raided a compound near the city of Kirkuk, freeing approximately 70 Iraqi prisoners from captivity.
Wheeler, a native of Roland, Oklahoma, is the first American to die in combat since the U.S. launched Operation Inherent Resolve, its campaign against the Islamic State group, last year.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Department of Defense says Wheeler died from wounds caused by small-arms fire during the operation.
He was assigned to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.