US Airstrike Kills Four Iraqi Troops Near Mosul

As Iraqi forces continue to struggle to get closer to the ISIS city of Mosul during the ongoing invasion, a US friendly fire incident has been reported in the town of Tal-Kayf, a town which fell quite some time ago and in which recent fighting hadn’t been reported.

According to Iraqi military officials, the US airstrikes against the town killed at least four Iraqi soldiers and wounded nine others. The details are still scant on what happened, and the US has yet to comment on the incident at all.

Iraqi officials are chalking it up as a mistake, but it is unclear why the town would be struck by US planes in the first place, as the Iraqi troops had been there for almost a week and there did not appear to be ISIS forces in the immediate vicinity.

Iraqi forces confirmed the incident amid an announcement of more villages captured in the area west of Mosul. Many of the villages more than 5 km from the city have already fallen, and ISIS appears to be only sparsely defending those that remain, with the vast majority of their fighters hunkered down in Mosul itself, prepared for a major battle.