A British soldier has been killed in combat by an improvised explosive device in Syria.
According to BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Beale, this is the first death of a serving UK troop in the fight against the Islamic State.
US officials confirmed an American soldier was also killed by the roadside bomb in the northern Syrian city of Manbij on Thursday, while four other troops were wounded, reports the Telegraph.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence said: "It is with regret that we must confirm that a member of the UK armed forces was killed by an improvised explosive device in Syria yesterday.
"The individual was embedded with US forces on a counter-Daesh [Isis] operation when the incident occurred. The family has been notified and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.
"We cannot confirm any further details at this stage."
The unnamed UK officer was put with US special services to help oversee a cleanup operation in the city, which was formerly controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq until it was taken over by Kurdish and Arab forces back in 2016.
The city of Manbij - which is described as "Little London" due to the large number of British Isil fighters living in the city - is currently under threat of attack from Turkey after its military forces stormed the nearby city of Afrin in January.
Turkey said the attack was launched in order to clear out Kurdish militias in the northern Syrian district.
Officials from its capital Ankara have threatened to push its operations closer to Manbij numerous times, which is not a favorable idea since it could lead to a direct confrontation between the two Nato allies.
The aforementioned attack in which the unnamed British troop died happened on Thursday - the same day US President Donald Trump announced American troops would be pulled from Syria 'very soon'.
According to the Pentagon, around four American soldiers have been killed in Syria in the fight to liberate the former Isis stronghold.
Source: The Telegraph
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