(MENAFN) New details from a U.S. military investigation into Navy Chief Petty Officer Jason Finan's death in Iraq are illustrating the twin risks of a bomb-ridden battlefield and shifting front lines in the campaign to retake Mosul from IS.
In detail, Finan on Thursday became the first U.S. military casualty in Iraq's offensive to capture the city of 1.5 million people, a highly complex operation that is expected to become the biggest battle fought in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
At the time Finan was killed, he was helping troops avoid a roadside bomb he identified while they tried to reposition further back from the fighting.
"(Islamic State) started pressing toward the (Iraqi military's) position," said Army Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.
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