Updated at 10:50 p.m. EDT, May 4, 2016
A U.S. Navy Seal was killed in combat on Tuesday, about three miles from the front lines north of Mosul. He had been visiting a Kurdish Peshmerga camp in the town of Tal Asqof. The head of a Christian militia there said Islamic State forces overran the town at dawn but were beaten back. The Seal was identified as Charles Keating IV. He is the third U.S. servicemember killed in combat since the start of Coalition.
A fact-finding team from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said it has found evidence of sulfur mustard use, possibly by the Islamic State militants, in both Iraq and Syria.
Religious observances culminated in Baghdad’s Kadhimiya district, where millions of Shi’ite pilgrims have paid their respects to a shrine honoring Imam Musa Kadhim, who died in 799 A.D.
Turkish warplanes killed 18 P.K.K. members in the Qandil Mountains.
As well as the U.S. Soldier and 18 P.K.K., at least 233 other were killed and 21 were wounded:
Heavy fighting took place in Ba’Shiqah, Khazar, and Tal Asqof. At least 10 Peshmerga fighters were killed, as well as a U.S. Navy Seal. Authorities reported over 120 militant deaths in the fighting; many of the dead were suicide bombers. Clashes also occurred near Gwer.
In Mosul, 17 people were executed for refusing to fight.
Five women were executed in Tal Afar.
A clash in Adhaim left one soldier dead and two wounded. Three militants were also killed.
A landmine killed three Peshmerga in Tal al-Ward.
Two people were killed and eight were wounded by a bomb in Yusufiya.
In Baghdad, a bomb wounded three soldiers.
A volunteer soldier was killed in Bashir while dismantling a bomb. Eight Turkmen militiamen were sickened by chemical weapons.
Twenty militants were killed in Albu Ali al-Jassim.
In Kanhish, security forces killed 17 militants.
Strikes near Hit killed 11 militants.
Ten militants were killed at the Ajil and Alas oil fields.
Shelling left nine militants dead in Makhmour.
Four militants were killed in a strike on Baaj.
