Navy chief petty officer Jason C. Finan

The Pentagon has identified the American killed in Iraq on Thursday as 34-year-old Navy chief petty officer Jason C. Finan.

The soldier was killed by a roadside bomb yesterday, marking him the first American combat casualty in the campaign to oust the terror group from its last major stronghold in northern Iraq.

Finan, who assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit in Coronado, had been serving in an advisory capacity to the Iraqi coalition force supporting Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq.

He died of wounds sustained in a roadside bomb attack near the town of Bashiqa, north of Mosul.

Finan, of Anaheim, California, is the fourth U.S. combat death in Iraq since U.S. military operations against ISIS began in Iraq in August 2014.

He leaves behind his wife Chariss Finan, 34.

'The entire Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) family offers our deepest condolences and sympathies to the family and loved ones of the Sailor we lost,' said Rear Adm. Brian Brakke, commander, Navy Expeditionary Combat Command/NECC Pacific.

Finan was serving as an explosive ordnance disposal specialist, supporting Kurdish peshmerga fighters who are part of an effort to recapture Mosul that began Monday.

Jason Finan has been killed while assisting Iraqi forces, pictured here charging into battle in a pre-dawn advance, as they fight to regain Mosul

A senior US defense official said the service member was in an armored vehicle traveling with Iraqi special forces northeast of Mosul when the vehicle hit a roadside bomb, possibly rolling over.

Finan was taken by medevac to the Kurdish regional capital, Irbil, but died from his injuries.

It was not immediately clear whether other US service members were hurt in the bomb attack yesterday.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the death was a 'reminder that our people who are participating in the counter-ISIL campaign, whether they be flying aircraft or working with the Iraqi security forces and the other forces and enabling their consistent advances of the kind that we see in the region of Mosul today, are in harm's way.'

He added that 'this is necessary work, because it's necessary for us to destroy ISIL in Iraq and Syria.'

He was supporting Kurdish peshmerga fighters, pictured here firing a multiple rocket launcher from a position in Sheikh Ali village near the town of Bashiqa, as part of their effort to recapture Mosul

'Therefore it's necessary for us to enable in this case the Iraqi security forces and the peshmerga in northern Iraq - and it appears that it was in that role that the service member was killed,' Carter added.

Pentagon officials had acknowledged at the outset of the Iraqi-led offensive that US special operations troops advising Iraqi security forces and Kurdish militia fighters could be wounded or killed as they advanced on Mosul.

Roadside bombs and other emplacements of improvised explosive devices pose a particular danger to advancing Iraqi forces and the US advisers who are with them. ISIS, which has occupied Mosul for more than two years, has prepared extensive defenses in and around the city.

More than 100 US special operations forces are operating with Iraqi units, and hundreds more are playing a support role in staging bases farther from the front lines.

US Central Command announced the death in a brief statement saying the service member was wounded by an 'improvised explosive device'.

Iraqi army soldiers wait for an attack to begin against Islamic State in Mosul. Supporting Iraqi forces is bringing Americans into their most significant role in the country in years

The assault on Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, is bringing American forces into its most significant role in Iraq in years.

There are more US forces in Iraq now than any time since the 2011 withdrawal, and American forces have been increasingly active on and beyond front-line positions.

Asked earlier this week about the degree of risk facing US special operations forces who are advising Iraqi forces in the Mosul operation, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said Iraqis are in the lead but efforts are being made to limit the risk facing US troops.

'There are Americans in harm's way as part of this fight,' Cook said Monday as the Mosul offensive was announced by the Iraqi government.

'We're very aware of that and we're taking steps, as many steps as we can, to reduce the risk to American forces and we'll continue to do that.'