US service member killed in Mosul

The New York Times reports that a US service member was killed in a detonation of explosives near Mosul Iraq yesterday;

An American service member was killed in an explosion on Saturday near Mosul, Iraq, the Pentagon said, as part of the battle to drive Islamic State fighters out of their last major stronghold in the country.

The United States Central Command did not identify the service member, pending notification of the family. A Central Command statement said that “a U.S. service member died from wounds sustained in an explosive device blast outside of Mosul, Iraq.”

CNN reports that about 500 US troops are involved with the more than 100,000=member Iraqi forces engaged in removing ISIS fighters from Mosul.

Reuters reports that the Iraqi army’s chief of staff, Lieutenant General Othman al-Ghanmi told the media that the battle for Mosul should be completed in the next three weeks.