IS kills US Navy Seal in Iraq attack

BAGHDAD: The Islamic State (IS) group broke through Kurdish defences in northern Iraq on Tuesday and killed a US Navy Seal deployed as part of the US-led coalition against the jihadists.
The attack came as the United Nations said that fighting with IS in northern Iraq could displace another 30,000 people, adding to millions who have already fled their homes.
And in Baghdad, throngs of Shiite pilgrims braved the threat of bombings by IS, which have killed dozens of people in recent days, to take part in a major annual religious commemoration.
The sailor from the special operations force was the third coalition member killed by enemy fire in Iraq since IS overran swathes of the country in 2014.
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey identified the fallen Seal as Charlie Keating IV, who attended high school in Phoenix.
President Barack Obama hailed the 2011 withdrawal of American troops from Iraq as a major accomplishment of his presidency, but US forces have been drawn back into combat in the country against IS.
Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the death occurred during an IS attack on one of the Kurdish peshmerga forces' positions north of Iraq's jihadist-held second city Mosul.
A US defence official said the Seal's death was the result of "an orchestrated attack".
A coalition military official said the American was killed by "direct fire" after "enemy forces penetrated" the peshmerga line. — AFP