A number of U.S. military troops operating around the northern Iraqi city of Mosul have been wounded by Islamic State group militants within the past six to eight weeks.
“They have come under fire at different times,” Air Force Col. John Dorrian said very matter-of-factly during a news briefing Tuesday at the Pentagon, according to CNN. “They have returned fire at different times in and around Mosul. That has happened at different times.
“When someone is shooting at you, that is combat,” he added. “Yes, that has happened.”
According to the Department of Defense, Dorrian provided his briefing from Baghdad on behalf of Combined Joint Task Force — Operation Inherent Resolve. As explained on the operation’s official website, its mission is to defeat the Islamic State group via the help of regional partners.
The same could be said of the situation in Syria, according to The Military Times, which early last month reported that at least 14 American military personnel “have been wounded in combat since the start of October while battling Islamic State fighters in (both) Iraq and Syria.”
As things heat up even further in the Middle East — which they are likely to do now that President Donald Trump is the commander in chief — such reports are apt to become more commonplace.
And this is why our brothers and sisters in uniform overseas will need as much love, as much support and as many prayers as we can possibly provide them in the upcoming months.
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