Two US military service members have been killed while accompanying Iraqi security forces during a mission targeting a stronghold of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS), the US-led coalition confirmed in a statement. The deaths occurred last Sunday in a mountainous area of north-central Iraq, the statement said.

An earlier report in the Kurdish media said there were clashes on Sunday morning near the town of Makhmour, 60 kilometers southwest of Erbil, involving warplanes and helicopters and a contingent of US troops. According to an eyewitness cited by Rudaw English, US soldiers “descended from the helicopters” before Iraqi troops arrived. The clashes resulted in the killing of five IS fighters, the report said.