The Pentagon on Monday said the Army special operations soldier killed in an improvised explosive devise blast in Manbij, Syria, last week was on a classified mission to "kill or capture a known ISIS member,” CNN reported.
The March 30 blast killed Master Sgt. Jonathan Dunbar and U.K. soldier Sgt. Matt Tonroe, and wounded five others. The troops were out of their vehicles at the time of the explosion, CNN reported, citing an unnamed source.
There’s no word on whether the target was found and captured, or killed.
“Coalition forces, in an advise, assist and accompany capacity with our partners, were conducting a mission to kill or capture a known ISIS member when they were struck by an improvised explosive device,” said Pentagon spokesman Marine Maj. Adrian J.T. Rankine-Galloway, Fox News reported.
“This operation was part of the Coalition's mission to defeat ISIS, and we remain focused on our mission.”
An unnamed official told CNN that Dunbar was assigned to the Army's elite Delta Force.
Delta Force and the Naval Special Warfare Development Group — known as Seal Team Six — are among the units that specialize in high-risk counterterrorism and hostage rescue missions that are rarely acknowledged, CNN reported.
Special operations forces have been in the Manbij area recently looking for ISIS operatives that may have fled to the area, one official told CNN.
On Saturday, the Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS Brett McGurk tweeted condolences to the families of the deceased and declared the fight against ISIS "is not over."
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