First US Soldier Killed In IED Blast In Syrian War

The US military has suffered its first combat death in Syria on Thursday when a soldier was killed by an improvised explosive device in northern part of the country.

The soldier was killed near Ayn Issa which is about an hour from Raqqa, Daesh's self-declared capital in Syria, The New York Times reported Thursday.

American warplanes have been bombing targets inside Syria to help tens of thousands militia fighters try to oust the IS militants from Raqqa city in Syria. Raqqa is the strong hold f IS militants.

US forces are on the ground as well. About more than 300 members of the United States Special Operations Forces are in Syria to help recruit, train and advise the Kurdish and Arab fighters who are trying to encircle the IS militants in Raqqa, cut off its supplies and ultimately recapture the city.

Though the US government has sought to limit the number of US soldiers in the fight against the IS militants, the death on Thursday shows how tensed and fatal the campaign against the militant group is in Syria and Iraq.

The US soldiers have been killed in Iraq as well, and this month the US acknowledged of having killed 119 civilians in Iraq and Syria since it began military operations against the militants in 2014.