According to the statement, U.S. Special Operations Forces gave support to an Iraqi Kurdish forces operation to rescue the hostages at a Daesh prison near Hawijah.
"The U.S. provided helicopter lift and accompanied Iraqi Peshmerga forces to the compound. Approximately 70 hostages were rescued, including more than 20 members of the Iraqi security forces," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in the statement.
Cook added that five Daesh militants were detained. Without giving an exact number of suspected militants killed in the operation, the spokesman said that “a number of them” died.
"One U.S. service member was wounded during the rescue mission," he said. "He subsequently died after receiving medical care. In addition, four Peshmerga soldiers were wounded."
General Lloyd J. Austin III, commander of U.S. Central Command, also issued a statement about the mission describing it "a complex and highly-successful operation”.
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