US forces rescue Kurdish hostages facing 'imminent execution' by Isis

About 70 hostages facing “imminent mass execution” have been rescued from an Islamic State jail in a raid by Kurdish troops and US special forces in northern Iraq, according to US and Kurdish officials.
One member of the US force was killed during the operation on Thursday morning, the Pentagon said. This was be the first US combat fatality on the ground in the fight against Isis in Iraq and Syria, and the first since US troops withdrew from Iraq in 2011.

The raid targeted a makeshift Isis prison near the town of Hawijah after US and Kurdish forces received reports that the hostages “faced imminent mass execution”, the Pentagon said.
Coalition air forces bombed the area at around 3am, before two helicopters were used to land Kurdish peshmerga troops and US special forces, a senior Kurdish counter-terrorism official told the Guardian.
About 70 hostages were rescued, including several dozen peshmerga fighters who had been captured by Isis in March, another coalition source said.
Several Isis fighters were killed, including two who the official said were senior commanders, and five more were captured.
One US soldier was wounded and subsequently died after coming under fire from the Isis compound, the Pentagon said. Four Iraqi troops were also wounded.
Hawija is a stronghold of Islamic State militants who have captured Kurdish peshmerga fighters in battles.
Islamic State has been the target of daily airstrikes in Iraq and Syria by a US-led coalition for more than a year.
In May, American special operations forces killed the Tunisian senior Isis leader Abu Sayyaf in a raid in Syria.