US Navy SEAL killed in northern Iraq after Islamic State punches through front line

A US Navy SEAL was killed on Tuesday in an attack by Islamic State fighters in northern Iraq, highlighting the evolving nature of the Pentagon’s mission in Iraq and how American troops are serving closer than ever to the front lines.

The SEAL was killed by enemy fire about 9.30am, US military officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to release information publicly. Arizona Governor Doug Ducey identified the slain SEAL as Charlie Keating IV. The Associated Press said he was the grandson of Arizona financier Charles Keating who was convicted in a savings and loan scandal in the 1990s.

The death occurred after Islamic State fighters north of Mosul penetrated a front line of Kurdish forces by about 5km, a US military official said.

Thrill seekers fight alongside Kurds against Islamic State

The SEAL was the third US service member killed in combat since the US military campaign against the Islamic State began in June 2014.

The first, Army Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler, 39, was a member of the elite Delta Force who was killed in a raid on October 22. But the latest two deaths show the kind of threats faced by the bulk of US troops advising Iraqi soldiers near the front lines with the Islamic State.

A Kurdish official said the death occurred after Islamic State fighters began attacking peshmerga lines at dawn near the town of Telskuf, about 30km north of Mosul, the Islamic State’s main stronghold in Iraq.