Sat Oct 24, 2015 11:52:31
After a member of US rescue operation forces died in a hostage rescue operation, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has warned Americans to expect more raids on ISIL positions while reiterating that there will be no combat mission for US troops on the ground.
Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler, a 39-year-old veteran of 14 official combat deployments, died of gunshot wounds sustained during a raid on an ISIL compound on Wednesday night, which was led by Iraqi Kurdish forces.
After this Ashton Carter in his press briefing on Friday mentioned that "When we find opportunities to do things that will effectively prosecute the campaign, we're going to do that," Carter said at Friday’s Pentagon briefing. "Raids is one of those categories and I suspect that we'll have further opportunities in the future and we're going to avail ourselves."
The Peshmerga troops and US Special Forces mounted the rescue operation in the area of Hawija, an ISIL stronghold west of Kirkuk. Wheeler and the other Special Forces members were participating solely in an "advise-and-assist" role during the raid, Carter told reporters Friday, insisting that his death in a gunfight does not change the role of the US troops in Iraq; RT reported.
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