{"id":17521,"date":"2016-05-04T16:17:34","date_gmt":"2016-05-04T16:17:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2016\/05\/04\/bullets-everywhere-navy-seal-killed-by-isis-was-sucked-into-a-hellish-fight\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:49:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:49:47","slug":"bullets-everywhere-navy-seal-killed-by-isis-was-sucked-into-a-hellish-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2016\/05\/04\/bullets-everywhere-navy-seal-killed-by-isis-was-sucked-into-a-hellish-fight\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Bullets everywhere’: Navy SEAL killed by ISIS was sucked into a hellish fight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Navy SEAL\u00a0killed in Iraq Tuesday was part of a “quick reaction force” attempting that was trying <\/span>to extract a team of American combat advisers who came under attack from\u00a0Islamic State militants near the front lines <\/span>in Iraq’s Kurdish region, a defense official said<\/span>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At about <\/span>7:50 a.m., U.S. military commanders received a got a report of <\/span>“troops in contact” report, and ordered Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Charlie\u00a0Keating IV and the quick reaction force to enter the fight and help extract the Americans. Keating and his unit soon <\/span>arrived in the village and found a fierce fight with Kurdish and American troops in close-quarters combat.Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Charlie<\/span> Keating IV <\/span>was a safe distance from the town of Tel Askuf at 7:30 a.m. when about\u00a0125 ISIS fighters descended on\u00a0Islamic State militants attacked\u00a0<\/span>the village, maneuvering in small units with 20 armed vehicles and several truck bombs, a\u00a0the\u00a0<\/span>defense official said on Wednesday. They\u00a0The attack\u00a0<\/span>pinned down\u00a0a team of\u00a0<\/span>about a dozen American combat advisers there\u00a0who were in the village\u00a0<\/span>for a one-day\u00a0advisory\u00a0<\/span>mission to meet with\u00a0the\u00a0<\/span>Kurdish P<\/span>peshmerga fighters who maintain\u00a0several combat outposts\u00a0in the area\u00a0<\/span>near ISIS-controlled\u00a0the edge of\u00a0<\/span>territory\u00a0controlled by Islamic State militants, also known as ISIS or ISIL<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

“There were bullets everywhere,” said Army Col. Steve Warren, a Baghdad-based spokesmen for the U.S. Defense Department, said Wednesday<\/span>.\u00a0“He got hit just in the course of this gun battle. Whether it was a sniper or some fighter with his [AK47] is unclear.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keating was shot about 9:30 am, and at 10:19 he was medically evacuated by helicopter to a U.S. medical facility in nearby Erbil. He\u00a0died soon afterward, Warren said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s very rare for quick reaction forces to be summoned in Iraq, Warren said. Tuesday\u2019s battle was the first time in months that Americans have required urgent combat support, he said.<\/span>Keating, 31, is was <\/span>the third American combat death in Iraq. His loss death <\/span>comes at a time when the U.S. is expanding its presence\u00a0the force <\/span>on the ground to fight ISIS in both <\/span>Iraq and Syria. In April, President Obama authorized an additional 217 troops for Iraq, putting the total American force there at more than 4,000. Obama also approved an additional 250 special operations troops to deploy to Syria, bringing the total U.S. force there troops in Syria <\/span>to about 300.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

The team of American combat advisers had moved into the village of Tel Askuf around dawn. Their mission was to meet with the Kurdish troops assigned to that sector, which does not normally have American forces based there. The advisers were assessing the Kurdish troops\u2019 supplies,\u00a0their defensive positions and offering other tactical advics<\/span>e, Warren said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. commanders knew the mission was dangerous, though.\u00a0The village is less than five miles from ISIS-held territory. Commanders had <\/span>preemptively assembled the quick reaction force at a nearby location <\/span>to stand by in case the U.S. advise-and-assist team encountered any danger\u00a0\u2019s day-long mission became dangerous<\/span>, Warren said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ISIS fighters and their fleet of about 20 vehicles infiltrated the area unnoticed by U.S. and Kurdish intelligence teams. “You can’t observe every inch of earth every moment in the day,” Warren said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The line separating the Kurdish-controlled area from ISIS is “not a wall, it\u2019s not even a fence,” Warren said. It’s “What it is is <\/span>checkpoints along the <\/span>major roads. Some outposts and\u00a0and then there’ll be outposts or <\/span>observation posts in between those roads that observe the enemy<\/span>.“<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The enemy was able to very covertly assemble enough force, which included the several truck bombs, some bulldozers, and of course their infantry. And they were available to punch through the Kurdish line there, punch through the [forward line of troops] and really sprint towards Tel Askuf, which was their objective,” Warren said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Now all this happened while our advise-and-assist team happened to be in that village,” Warren said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

ISIS posted photos of the battle on social media showing its\u00a0ISIS\u00a0<\/span>fighters operating several American-made Humvees outfitted with makeshift armor, and one “technical,” a pickup truck mounted with a crew-serve anti-aircraft gun.\u00a0There\u2019s no evidence that <\/span>the ISIS fighters knew there were Americans in the village at the time of the attack, Warren said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon after the battle began, the skies were filled with U.S. aircraft, including drones, F-15 fighters, F-16 fighters, some B-52 bombers and A-10 attack aircraft, Warren said.\u00a0Those aircraft dropped dozens of bombs, destroying all 20 ISIS vehicles, two truck bombs, one bulldozer and\u00a0three mortar systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warren estimated the air strikes also killed 58 ISIS fighters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

The mission for Keating\u2019s quick reaction force was to focus on extracting the American service members caught in the fight; Kurdish P<\/span>peshmerga commanders summoned their own backup unit with several hundred fighter to protect the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small arms fire struck Keating’s medical-evacuation helicopter\u00a0as it left the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, the fighting between ISIS and the Kurds lasted more than 12 hours but ISIS was unable to gain any territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No other Americans were injured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuesday’s attack was one of ISIS’s most ambitious operations in months. It was similar in scale to at attack in December on the town of Tal Aswad, which involved about 100 ISIS fighters maneuvering in small formations with truck bombs and armored bulldozers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Iraq: ISIS releases pics from failed offensive on Tel Skuf. Peshmerga, Seals and US air support repelled the attack. pic.twitter.com\/inU1kwqhGo<\/a><\/p>— Bj\u00f6rn Stritzel (@bjoernstritzel) May 4, 2016<\/a><\/blockquote>