American servicemember killed after rocket hits base in northern Iraq

A U.S. servicemember was killed at a northern Iraqi base after it came under rocket attack, a U.S. military official told USA TODAY on Saturday.

Two rockets hit the base, but one didn't cause any casualties or damage, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the incident.

The servicemember was among a small unit of troops advising the 15th Division of the Iraqi army, the official said.

Earlier Saturday, the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State confirmed the death of a servicemember as a result of enemy action but didn't identify the person's nationality.

The last American servicemember to be killed in combat in Iraq was Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler, 39, who died in October.

Wheeler, a Special Forces soldier from Roland, Okla., was killed in a raid that freed 70 Islamic State hostages from a makeshift prison in northern Iraq. He was the first soldier to die in combat in Iraq since 2011 when U.S. forces withdrew after more than eight years of combat there.

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