Click to see full-size image, by the Hawar News Agency (ANHA)
UPDATE: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed that the number of killed US soldiers is 5.
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Four U.S. service members were killed and three others were injured in the recent suicide bombing attack in the northern Syrian city of Manbij, a U.S. official told the Reuters news agency on January 16.
ISIS had claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack and said that the suicide bomber’s name was “Abu Yasin al-Shami.” The terrorist group news agency Amaq claimed that nine personnel of the US-led coalition were killed or injured.
According to the available information, al-Shami blew himself up inside the Prince Restaurant in the center of Manbij when a joint patrol of US-led coalition and local forces was present there. Minutes after the explosion, a H-92 helicopter of the coalition landed in Manbij and evacuated a number of casualties.
In its first comment on the attack, the US-led coalition said that it is still gathering information. Later, the coalition confirmed that U.S. service members were killed without providing any additional details.
U.S. service members were killed during an explosion while conducting a routine patrol in Syria today. We are still gathering information and will share additional details at a later time.
— OIR Spokesperson (@OIRSpox) January 16, 2019
If the number of American casualties is confirmed, this attack will be the deadliest against the US-led coalition since the beginning of the war on ISIS in 2014.
