The U.S. military said Friday that two coalition personnel were killed and five were wounded by a roadside bombing in Syria.

The military did not say where the incident occurred but it came hours after a local Syrian official said that a roadside bomb has exploded in the tense, mixed Arab-Kurdish town of Manbij that is not far from the border with Turkey.

The U.S. military statement said the incident occurred on Thursday night and that the wounded personnel were being evacuated for further medical treatment. The coalition statement said details pertaining to the incident were being withheld pending an investigation.

It did not identify the casualties as American soldiers, only coalition personnel members.

U.S. military spokesperson Col. Ryan Dillon couldn't immediately say who was behind the attack.

"There is an investigation under way to identify who they could possibly be. We have our initial assessment and thoughts on that but we won't provide until the investigation is complete," he said.

Dillon refused to give the location of the attack or the nationalities of the dead and wounded until next of kin are notified.

Dillon said the coalition has had fatalities, "perhaps by different means, but there have been coalition deaths in Syria over the course of three years."

The local Syrian official, Mohammed Abu Adel, the head of the Manbij Military Council, an Arab-Kurdish U.S.-backed group in the town, said the bomb went off hundreds of metres away from a security headquarters that houses the council, just before midnight on Thursday.

Manbij is under threat of a Turkish military operation. Ankara says Syrian-Kurdish militiamen it views as "terrorists" and an extension of Kurdish insurgents inside Turkey is in control of the town.

The town has also seen a number of small explosions, protests and an assassination attempt on a member of the Manbij military council in recent weeks. Local officials blame Turkey and other adversaries for seeking to sow chaos in the town that was controlled by Islamic state militants until the summer of 2016.

The U.S.-backed backed Kurdish-Arab Manbij military council has been in control since then, and U.S. troops patrol the town and area with troops based nearby.</s>A British special forces soldier has been killed by an improvised explosive device in Syria, in the first death of a serving UK troop in the fight against the Islamic State.

An American was also killed by the roadside bomb in the northern Syrian city of Manbij on Thursday, which also wounded four members of the local council.

The unnamed British soldier was embedded with US special forces overseeing a clean-up operation in Manbij, which was controlled by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) until it was taken by allied Kurdish and Arab forces in the summer of 2016.

The city, close to the border with Turkey, earned the nickname “Little London” because of the large numbers of British Isil fighters stationed in the city during the days of the “caliphate”.

A Ministry Of Defence spokesperson 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 operation when the incident occurred. "The family has been notified and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.</s>WASHINGTON/BAGHDAD: A US service member and another person from the US-led coalition battling IS were killed by an improvised explosive device in Syria, US officials said on Friday.

 They are the first coalition service members to be killed or wounded in an attack this year.

 Two US officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity and citing initial information, said one of the people killed in the blast on Thursday was an American and the incident took place near the city of Manbij in northern Syria. They declined to comment on the nationality of the other individual.

 Earlier on Friday, a coalition statement said two personnel had been killed and five wounded in Syria, but did not provide their nationalities.

 The explosion happened on Thursday night, the coalition statement said.

 The wounded were evacuated for treatment, according to the statement.

 Manbij has largely been cleared of IS and is significant because Turkey, which stormed the northern Syrian town of Afrin after an offensive against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, has repeatedly threatened to push its operations farther east to Manbij.

 About 10 coalition personnel have been killed in non-combat-related incidents since January 1, including seven Americans who died in a helicopter crash in Iraq earlier this month.

 IS militants continue to carry out bombings, ambushes and assassinations in Syria and Iraq despite the collapse last year of the cross-border “caliphate” declared in 2014 by their leader, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, whose whereabouts are unknown.

 The United States says it has about 5,200 troops in Iraq, deployed alongside Iraqi armed forces. Some 2,000 US troops are in Syria, allied to a Kurdish-led alliance that holds the largest swath of territory still outside the control of forces loyal to President Bashar al Assad. — Reuters</s>An American was among two members of the US-led anti-jihadist coalition killed by an improvised explosive device in the northern Syrian city of Manbij, the US military and a monitor said Friday.

Five other coalition members were wounded, the Pentagon said.

The attack in Manbij, a city where US personnel are stationed, happened late Thursday -- the day US President Donald Trump said he would pull out forces "very soon".

"Two coalition personnel were killed and five were wounded by an improvised explosive device in Syria" at around midnight (2100 GMT), the coalition said in a statement which gave no further details about the victims.

A Pentagon official, speaking later on condition of anonymity, identified one of them as being American.

The nationality of the second fatality was not released, said the official, adding that the victim was not French.

Since 2014 the coalition has provided weapons, training and other support to forces fighting Islamic State group (IS) jihadists in Syria and Iraq.

This latest incident brings the number of US personnel killed in action during the operation to 14.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The US-led coalition said it was withholding details on the circumstances of the attack pending further investigation.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said the attack hit a convoy in the heart of Manbij, also wounding four members of the local council.

Manbij used to be a hub for the jihadists when their self-styled "caliphate" was at its peak. It was retaken by Kurdish-led forces backed by the coalition.

- More than 2,000 US personnel -

Located between the northern city of Aleppo and the western bank of the Euphrates, less than 30 kilometres (18 miles) south of the Turkish border, Manbij lies where several international influence zones meet and risks becoming a new flashpoint.

"We'll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon. Let the other people take care of it now," Trump told industrial workers in Ohio on Thursday.

The United States has more than 2,000 military personnel in eastern Syria, working with local militia groups to defeat IS while trying to keep out of Syria's broader civil war.

Trump's eagerness to quit the conflict contrasts with a new US Syria strategy announced in January by then secretary of state Rex Tillerson -- who has since been sacked.

Also on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron met a delegation from the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and Kurdish official Asya Abdullah said afterwards that France was planning to send "new French troops to Manbij."

The presidency did not explicitly deny the reinforcements, but stressed it was not planning any military operation in Syria outside the US-led coalition.

Turkey and its Syrian proxies launched a major offensive against the SDF in northern Syria in January that has already resulted in the capture of the Kurdish-majority region of Afrin.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to expand the operation to other areas where Kurdish forces are present, including the city of Manbij.</s>Two members of the US-led anti-jihadist coalition -- an American and a Briton -- were killed by an improvised explosive device in the northern Syrian city of Manbij, US and British officials said Friday.

Five other coalition service personnel were wounded, the Pentagon said.

The attack in Manbij happened late Thursday -- the day US President Donald Trump said he would pull forces out of Syria "very soon."

"Two coalition personnel were killed and five were wounded by an improvised explosive device in Syria" at around midnight (2100 GMT), the coalition said in a statement which gave no further details about the victims.

A Pentagon official, speaking later on condition of anonymity, identified one of them as being American.

Britain's defence ministry confirmed the second fatality came from within its ranks.

"The individual was embedded with US forces on a counter-Daesh operation when the incident occurred," the ministry said, using an Arabic acronym to refer to the Islamic State (IS) group.

Since 2014, the coalition has provided weapons, training and other support to forces fighting IS jihadists in Syria and Iraq.

This latest incident brings the number of US personnel killed in action during the operation to 14.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The US-led coalition said it was withholding details on the circumstances of the attack pending further investigation.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said the attack hit a convoy in the heart of Manbij, also wounding four members of the local council.

Manbij used to be a hub for the jihadists when their self-styled "caliphate" was at its peak. It was retaken by Kurdish-led forces backed by the coalition.

- More than 2,000 US personnel -

Located between the northern city of Aleppo and the western bank of the Euphrates, less than 30 kilometres (18 miles) south of the Turkish border, Manbij lies where several international influence zones meet and risks becoming a new flashpoint.

"We'll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon. Let the other people take care of it now," Trump told industrial workers in Ohio on Thursday.

The United States has more than 2,000 military personnel in eastern Syria, working with local militia groups to defeat IS while trying to keep out of Syria's broader civil war.

Trump's eagerness to quit the conflict contrasts with a new US Syria strategy announced in January by then secretary of state Rex Tillerson -- who has since been sacked.

Also on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron met a delegation from the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and Kurdish official Asya Abdullah said afterwards that France was planning to send "new French troops to Manbij."

The presidency did not explicitly deny the reinforcements, but stressed it was not planning any military operation in Syria outside the US-led coalition.

Turkey and its Syrian proxies launched a major offensive against the SDF in northern Syria in January that has already resulted in the capture of the Kurdish-majority region of Afrin.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to expand the operation to other areas where Kurdish forces are present, including the city of Manbij.</s>BEIRUT: Two members of the US-led anti-militant coalition - an American and a Briton - were killed by an improvised explosive device in the northern Syrian city of Manbij, US and British officials said on Friday (Mar 30).

Five other coalition service personnel were wounded, the Pentagon said.

The attack in Manbij happened late Thursday - the day US President Donald Trump said he would pull forces out of Syria "very soon."

"Two coalition personnel were killed and five were wounded by an improvised explosive device in Syria" at around midnight (2100 GMT), the coalition said in a statement which gave no further details about the victims.

A Pentagon official, speaking later on condition of anonymity, identified one of them as being American.

Britain's defence ministry confirmed the second fatality came from within its ranks.

"The individual was embedded with US forces on a counter-Daesh operation when the incident occurred," the ministry said, using an Arabic acronym to refer to the Islamic State (IS) militant group.

Since 2014, the coalition has provided weapons, training and other support to forces fighting IS militants in Syria and Iraq.

This latest incident brings the number of US personnel killed in action during the operation to 14.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The US-led coalition said it was withholding details on the circumstances of the attack pending further investigation.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said the attack hit a convoy in the heart of Manbij, also wounding four members of the local council.

Manbij used to be a hub for the militants when their self-styled "caliphate" was at its peak. It was retaken by Kurdish-led forces backed by the coalition.

MORE THAN 2,000 US PERSONNEL

Located between the northern city of Aleppo and the western bank of the Euphrates, less than 30 kilometres (18 miles) south of the Turkish border, Manbij lies where several international influence zones meet and risks becoming a new flashpoint.

"We'll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon. Let the other people take care of it now," Trump told industrial workers in Ohio on Thursday.

The United States has more than 2,000 military personnel in eastern Syria, working with local militia groups to defeat IS while trying to keep out of Syria's broader civil war.

Trump's eagerness to quit the conflict contrasts with a new US Syria strategy announced in January by then secretary of state Rex Tillerson - who has since been sacked.

Also on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron met a delegation from the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and Kurdish official Asya Abdullah said afterwards that France was planning to send "new French troops to Manbij."

The presidency did not explicitly deny the reinforcements, but stressed it was not planning any military operation in Syria outside the US-led coalition.

Turkey and its Syrian proxies launched a major offensive against the SDF in northern Syria in January that has already resulted in the capture of the Kurdish-majority region of Afrin.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to expand the operation to other areas where Kurdish forces are present, including the city of Manbij.</s>Beirut (AFP) - Two members of the US-led anti-jihadist coalition -- an American and a Briton -- were killed by an improvised explosive device in the northern Syrian city of Manbij, US and British officials said Friday.

Five other coalition service personnel were wounded, the Pentagon said.

The attack in Manbij happened late Thursday -- the day US President Donald Trump said he would pull forces out of Syria "very soon."

"Two coalition personnel were killed and five were wounded by an improvised explosive device in Syria" at around midnight (2100 GMT), the coalition said in a statement which gave no further details about the victims.

A Pentagon official, speaking later on condition of anonymity, identified one of them as being American.

Britain's defence ministry confirmed the second fatality came from within its ranks.

"The individual was embedded with US forces on a counter-Daesh operation when the incident occurred," the ministry said, using an Arabic acronym to refer to the Islamic State (IS) group.

Since 2014, the coalition has provided weapons, training and other support to forces fighting IS jihadists in Syria and Iraq.

This latest incident brings the number of US personnel killed in action during the operation to 14.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The US-led coalition said it was withholding details on the circumstances of the attack pending further investigation.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said the attack hit a convoy in the heart of Manbij, also wounding four members of the local council.

Manbij used to be a hub for the jihadists when their self-styled "caliphate" was at its peak. It was retaken by Kurdish-led forces backed by the coalition.

- More than 2,000 US personnel -

Located between the northern city of Aleppo and the western bank of the Euphrates, less than 30 kilometres (18 miles) south of the Turkish border, Manbij lies where several international influence zones meet and risks becoming a new flashpoint.

"We'll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon. Let the other people take care of it now," Trump told industrial workers in Ohio on Thursday.

The United States has more than 2,000 military personnel in eastern Syria, working with local militia groups to defeat IS while trying to keep out of Syria's broader civil war.

Trump's eagerness to quit the conflict contrasts with a new US Syria strategy announced in January by then secretary of state Rex Tillerson -- who has since been sacked.

Also on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron met a delegation from the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and Kurdish official Asya Abdullah said afterwards that France was planning to send "new French troops to Manbij."

The presidency did not explicitly deny the reinforcements, but stressed it was not planning any military operation in Syria outside the US-led coalition.

Turkey and its Syrian proxies launched a major offensive against the SDF in northern Syria in January that has already resulted in the capture of the Kurdish-majority region of Afrin.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to expand the operation to other areas where Kurdish forces are present, including the city of Manbij.</s>An American was among two members of the US-led anti-jihadist coalition killed by an improvised explosive device in the northern Syrian city of Manbij, the US military and a monitor said Friday.

Five other coalition members were wounded, the Pentagon said.

The attack in Manbij, a city where US personnel are stationed, happened late Thursday -- the day US President Donald Trump said he would pull out forces "very soon".

"Two coalition personnel were killed and five were wounded by an improvised explosive device in Syria" at around midnight (2100 GMT), the coalition said in a statement which gave no further details about the victims.

A Pentagon official, speaking later on condition of anonymity, identified one of them as being American.

The nationality of the second fatality was not released, said the official, adding that the victim was not French.

Since 2014 the coalition has provided weapons, training and other support to forces fighting Islamic State group (IS) jihadists in Syria and Iraq.

This latest incident brings the number of US personnel killed in action during the operation to 14.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The US-led coalition said it was withholding details on the circumstances of the attack pending further investigation.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said the attack hit a convoy in the heart of Manbij, also wounding four members of the local council.

Manbij used to be a hub for the jihadists when their self-styled "caliphate" was at its peak. It was retaken by Kurdish-led forces backed by the coalition.

- More than 2,000 US personnel -

Located between the northern city of Aleppo and the western bank of the Euphrates, less than 30 kilometres (18 miles) south of the Turkish border, Manbij lies where several international influence zones meet and risks becoming a new flashpoint.

"We'll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon. Let the other people take care of it now," Trump told industrial workers in Ohio on Thursday.

The United States has more than 2,000 military personnel in eastern Syria, working with local militia groups to defeat IS while trying to keep out of Syria's broader civil war.

Trump's eagerness to quit the conflict contrasts with a new US Syria strategy announced in January by then secretary of state Rex Tillerson -- who has since been sacked.

Also on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron met a delegation from the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and Kurdish official Asya Abdullah said afterwards that France was planning to send "new French troops to Manbij."

The presidency did not explicitly deny the reinforcements, but stressed it was not planning any military operation in Syria outside the US-led coalition.

Turkey and its Syrian proxies launched a major offensive against the SDF in northern Syria in January that has already resulted in the capture of the Kurdish-majority region of Afrin.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to expand the operation to other areas where Kurdish forces are present, including the city of Manbij.</s>An American and a British service member in the US-led coalition battling Islamic State were killed by an improvised explosive device in Syria, US and British officials said on Friday. They are the first coalition service members to be killed or wounded in an attack this year.

Two US officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity and citing initial information, said one of the people killed in the blast on Thursday blast was an American. They said the incident took place near the city of Manbij in northern Syria. Later, the British Ministry of Defence said a soldier embedded with US forces was also killed. The soldier’s family had been informed, a ministry spokesperson said. Earlier on Friday, a coalition statement said two personnel had been killed and five wounded in Syria, but did not provide their nationalities. The wounded were evacuated for treatment, according to the statement.

The explosion happened on Thursday night, the coalition statement said. Manbij has largely been cleared of Islamic State and is significant because Turkey, which stormed the northern Syrian town of Afrin after an offensive against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, has repeatedly threatened to push its operations farther east to Manbij.

About 10 coalition personnel have been killed in non-combat-related incidents since Jan. 1, including seven Americans who died in a helicopter crash in Iraq earlier this month.

Islamic State militants continue to carry out bombings, ambushes and assassinations in Syria and Iraq despite the collapse last year of the cross-border “caliphate” declared in 2014 by their leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, whose whereabouts are unknown. The United States says it has about 5,200 troops in Iraq, deployed alongside Iraqi armed forces. Some 2,000 US troops are in Syria, allied to a Kurdish-led alliance that holds the largest swath of territory still outside the control of forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. The American casualty comes a day after President Donald Trump said the United States would be leaving Syria “very soon.” The State Department said it was not aware of any plans to withdraw from Syria.

Senior officials have said there is a need for a longer-term U.S. commitment in Syria. Last year, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said he expected to see a larger U.S. civilian presence in Syria, including contractors and diplomats, as the fight against Islamic State militants nears its end and the focus turns toward rebuilding and ensuring the militants do not return . Mattis has previously stated that U.S. forces will stay in Syria as long as Islamic State fighters want to fight and prevent the return of an “ISIS 2.0.”

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App</s>A roadside bomb in the Syrian town of Manbij has killed two members of the US-led anti-ISIS coalition and injured five more. One of the killed was American and the other British, according to multiple reports.Although the Coalition has yet to officially identify the casualties, a number of news outlets have already reported them as American and British. Fox News and Reuters cited a US military official, while Sky News cited the UK Ministry of Defence.A spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) - the official name of the US-led military operation against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) in Iraq and Syria - confirmed in a brief statement on Thursday that "two Coalition personnel were killed and five were wounded by an improvised explosive device in Syria."The blast took place near Manbij, a city in the northeast of Aleppo governorate, two US officials who spoke on condition of anonymity told Reuters. Manbij was liberated from IS in August 2016, by US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the majority of whom are Kurds. Turkey has objected to the SDF presence in Manbij, as Ankara considers the Kurdish militias terrorists.OIR said the names of slain service members "will be released at the discretion of the pertinent national authorities," adding details of the incident are being withheld "pending further investigation."
A roadside bomb in Syria kills one British and one U.S. soldier and injures five more coalition personnel. It is the first death of a British soldier fighting ISIL.