On “America’s Newsroom,” National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin reported on new video footage showing the daring rescue mission carried out last week by U.S. and Kurdish forces on an ISIS prison in Iraq.
Amid the incessant crackle of gunfire, the soldiers usher the cowering men through darkened rooms.
The men are barefoot, most of them wearing long robes, some with large stains. As voices holler at them in the darkness to move quickly, they hurry across the debris-littered floor past the gun-wielding soldiers.
The frantic scene is from a newly released video showing parts of the mission in northern Iraq on Thursday in which U.S., Kurdish and Iraqi forces freed around 70 hostages from an ISIS-controlled prison.
The rescue of the hostages, who the Pentagon said were facing “imminent mass execution,” cost the life of one of the U.S. soldiers taking part in the operation — Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler.
A member of the U.S. Army’s elite Delta Force, Wheeler was the first American to die in combat in Iraq in nearly four years. His death has raised questions about the nature of U.S. involvement in the fight against ISIS.
‘Hold that guy there’
The new video showing scenes from the raid near Hawija, in northern Kirkuk province, was released by the Kurdistan Regional Government. A U.S. military official confirmed its source and authenticity to CNN.
It was filmed from the helmet camera of one of the Kurdish soldiers, whose gun can be seen pointing at a barred window through which a glow is emanating, possibly from a fire.
The person wearing the body camera empties the freed men’s shirt pockets and pats them down before hurriedly moving the men farther down the hallway.
“Hold that guy there,” says one voice with an American accent. “We got more coming.”
A U.S. Special Forces commander on the ground made the decision to directly engage ISIS fighters during the overnight mission, the official said. Wheeler was shot inside the compound, badly injured and flown to Irbil, where he died, according to the official.
The hostages who were freed were reported to include members of the Iraqi Security Forces, local residents and several ISIS fighters accused of spying.
U.S. officials have said the decisions were made quickly because time was believed to have been running out for the hostages.
“We knew the hostages would soon be murdered,” said Col. Steve Warren, the spokesman for the U.S. military operation against ISIS.
Source: WATCH: Delta Force Raid on ISIS Prison Where Soldier Died Caught on Helmet-Cam | Fox News Insider
Source: CNN
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