![A soldier sits atop a US military vehicle, part of a convoy arriving from northern Iraq, driving through the countryside of the Syrian city of Qamishli on October 26th, 2019. [Delil Souleiman/AFP]](/cnmi_di/images/2020/03/09/22893-US-military-vehicle-700_496.webp)
Two US soldiers fighting the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) were killed during an operation alongside Iraqi forces, the international coalition said Monday (March 9th).
"Two US service members were killed by enemy forces... during a [Sunday] mission to eliminate an ISIS terrorist stronghold in a mountainous area of north central Iraq," the coalition said in a statement.
It did not name those killed, but said they had been "advising and accompanying Iraqi security forces".
The international coalition has provided training and air support for Iraqi forces since 2014, after ISIS seized much of northern Iraq and large parts of Syria.
Iraqi forces backed by the coalition drove ISIS from all urban centres in a gruelling battle, declaring victory in December 2017.
International coalition forces have since focused on conducting airstrikes and surveillance to rout the group's sleeper cells.
