A U.S. serviceman has been killed in fighting with Islamic State militants in northern Iraq.
Officials said the U.S. soldier was killed when IS militants overran Kurdish defenses near Mosul early on May 3.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter confirmed the fatality, calling it a “very sad loss.”
A senior official of the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces said the soldier was killed near Tel Asqof, a town which IS militants overran early on May 3.
A leader of a Christian militia deployed in the area said the town had been attacked by several suicide bombers, some driving vehicles packed with explosives.
A U.S. military official said the U.S.-led coalition help the Peshmerga repel the attack with air support from F-15 jets and drones.
In mid-April, Washington announced plans to send an additional 200 troops to Iraq to advise Iraqi forces fighting IS.
IS militants have largely been on the retreat in Iraq since December, when the Iraqi Army recaptured Ramadi, the capital of Anbar Province.
