Report: Delta Force soldier led assault on ISIS compound
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
A Delta Force soldier died while leading the early stages of an assault on an ISIS compound in Iraq, Military.com reported Monday, a depiction of the raid at odds with the official narrative that U.S. troops were only operating in an “advise-and-assist” capacity.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Friday that Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler’s death during Thursday’s daring raid near the town of Hawija did not “represent us assuming a combat role.”
“It represents a continuation of our advise-and-assist mission,” Carter said during a news conference.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
But sources told Military.com that Wheeler was actually leading a Delta Force assault element during the raid that killed 20 ISIS fighters.
Wheeler, 39, is the first U.S. fatality during an operation against ISIS – though U.S. officials have been largely careful not to classify his death as occurring during a “combat” operation.
Carter, however, did use the term when asked what led to the death of the 20-year Army vet who served 14 tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
“This is combat, things are complicated,” he said on Friday.
American and Kurdish forces freed 70 hostages during the raid.
“U.S. forces are not in Iraq on a combat mission and do not have ‘boots on the ground,’” Army Lt. Gen Sean MacFarland, the head of Committed Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, said in a statement on Friday.