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ByRobertBurnsand Bram Janssen The Associated Press WASHINGTON Believing that Islamic State cap- tives held on a compound in northern Iraq faced "imminent mass execu- tion," dozens of U.S. spe- cial operations troops and Iraqi forces raided the site Thursday, freeing approx- imately 70 Iraqi prisoners in an operation that saw the first American killed in combat in the country since the U.S. campaign against IS began in 2014, officials said. The raiders killed and captured a number of militants and recovered what the Pentagon called a trove of valuable intelli- gence about the terrorist organization. The U.S. service mem- ber who died was not pub- licly identified pending no- tification of relatives. Offi- cials said this was the first American combat death in Iraq since the U.S. began its counter-IS military cam- paign in August 2014. Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said target of the raid was a prison near the town of Hawija and that the raid was undertaken at the request of the Kurd- ish Regional Government, the semi-autonomous body that governs the Kurdish region of northern Iraq. He said U.S. special operations forces supported what he called an Iraqi peshmerga rescue operation. The peshmerga are the Kurdish region's organized militia. The U.S. has worked closely with them in train- ing and advising roles, but this is the first known in- stance of U.S. ground forces operating alongside Iraqi troops in combat. "This operation was de- liberately planned and launched after receiving in- formation that the hostages faced imminent mass exe- cution," Cook said, adding later that it appeared the hostages faced death "per- haps within hours" and that freed hostages told authori- ties that some had been exe- cuted at the prison recently, prior to the rescue. Cook said Defense Secre- tary Ash Carter approved the U.S. participation in the mission. Cook called it "consistent with our coun- ter-ISIL effort to train, ad- vise and assist Iraqi forces." U.S. combat troops have rarely, if ever, participated directly in combat against IS fighters on the ground since the U.S. mission be- gan in 2014. The U.S. has mostly limited its role to training and advising Iraqi and Kurdish forces, air- dropping humanitarian re- lief supplies and providing daily airstrikes in IS-held areas of Iraq. In a separate statement, the Kurdish government said the operation lasted about two hours and was led by its counterterror- ism forces, with support from coalition troops. It made no mention of intel- ligence indicating the cap- tives were in imminent dan- ger of mass execution, as as- serted by the Pentagon. The Kurdish statement said more than 20 IS fight- ers were killed in the opera- tion about four miles north of Hawija. It said 69 hos- tages were freed, none of whom were Kurds, and it thanked the Americans for their bravery. The circumstances in which one U.S. military member was killed were unclear, but one U.S. official said the American had been shot in a firefight at the scene. Cook said the service member was wounded dur- ing the mission and died af- ter receiving medical care. Cook said four Peshmerga soldiers were wounded. Another U.S. defense of- ficial, who spoke on condi- tion of anonymity to pro- vide other initial details, said the U.S. role in the res- cue mission was mainly limited to four areas: trans- porting Iraqi soldiers to the scene in five U.S. special op- erations helicopters; pro- viding airstrikes before and after the mission; advising Kurdish fighters and Iraqi security forces; and provid- ing the Iraqis with intelli- gence for the operation. The U.S. defense offi- cial said the number of IS members killed was not to be made public immedi- ately but that it was more than 10. Cook said that of the ap- proximately 70 prisoners freed, more than 20 were members of the Iraqi secu- rity forces. He did not say who the others were. Cook said five IS mem- bers were detained and "a number" were killed. 'IMMINENT MASS EXECUTION' Pentagon:AmericankilledinraidtofreeIraqisheldbyIS By Tia Goldenberg The Associated Press JERUSALEM A Jewish Is- raeli man was shot and killed in a scuffle with Is- raeli soldiers who suspected he was a Palestinian at- tacker, police said Thurs- day, in a reflection of the jit- tery mood that has gripped Israelis amid a spate of near-daily stabbings. The shooting came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Germany for talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on how to restore calm. Kerry ex- pressed a "cautious mea- sure of optimism" follow- ing the four-hour meeting about proposals that could help defuse tensions. Kerry is set to meet with the Pal- estinians this weekend. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the shooting of the Israeli man in Jeru- salem late Wednesday oc- curred after soldiers patrol- ling the area asked him to show ID as he got off a bus. The man refused, scuf- fled with the soldiers and then attempted to seize one of their weapons. A pri- vate security guard nearby shot the man, and one sol- dier also opened fire, police said. The man later died of his wounds. Police said the soldiers had grown suspicious when the man, speaking in Hebrew, asked to see their IDs and proclaimed, "I am ISIS," referring to the Is- lamic State militant group. "The soldiers had high suspicions that he was a ter- rorist," Rosenfeld said. Po- lice later identified the man as a 28-year-old Jewish res- ident of Jerusalem, without providing further details. Avraham Ben Haim told Channel 10 TV he was a friend of the man killed. He said the man was from the restive Russian region of Dagestan, worked as a secu- rityguardandwasnotstable. "I don't know how fit he was to carry a gun," he said. Grainy footage emerged Thursday showing the man scuffling with numerous people on the street before he was shot. Palestinian attacks have Israelis on edge. Several politicians have urged li- censed gun owners to carry their weapons and there have been several bloody accidents. In one case, an Israeli man stabbed a fel- low Jew, thinking his victim was an Arab because of his dark skin. Earlier this week, a security guard shot an Er- itrean migrant he thought was an attacker during a bus station shooting. As the Eritrean lay on the ground, a mob cursed, kicked and hit him with objects. He died of his wounds. Four suspects ar- rested for their role in the beating were released on bail following a court ap- pearance. Opposition legislator Tzipi Livni accused hard- line politicians of foment- ing a climate of fear and danger with their calls for people to arm themselves. "This is not the Wild West," she told Israeli Army Radio. "The suspicion there is now, the fear and the hate lead to brutal and very dif- ficult results." Israelis have scrambled to purchase pepper spray for self-defense, and stores and restaurants are empty. Israel has beefed up secu- rity, deploying hundreds of soldiers to back up thou- sands of police officers. Po- lice have erected concrete barriers and checkpoints at the entrances to Arab areas of east Jerusalem, where many of the attack- ers are from. SPATE OF STABBINGS Israeli man shot dead a er being mistaken for Palestinian attacker ODEDBALILTY—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Israeli border police check Palestinian's identification cards at a checkpoint as they exit the Arab neighborhood of Issawiyeh in Jerusalem, on Thursday. Alloffersforalimitedtime.Notallbuyerswillqualifyforindividualprograms.SeeRedBluffChrysler/Jeep/Dodge/Ramforcompletedetailsandvehiclequalificationsforallcurrentlyrunningprograms.0%and1.9%APRfinancingarenot applicable on these new selected models. 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