BAGHDAD, Iraq (CLARKSVILLENOW) – The Department of Defense announced today the death of a sailor who was supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.
Chief Petty Officer Jason C. Finan, 34, of Anaheim, California, died Oct. 20 in northern Iraq, of wounds sustained in an improvised explosive device blast.
He was assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit Three.
U.S. officials said the American was in a vehicle north of Mosul when he was hit. He later died of his wounds.
Pentagon officials had acknowledged at the outset of the Iraqi-led offensive that U.S. special operations troops advising Iraqi security forces and Kurdish militia fighters could be injured or killed as they advanced on Mosul.
Roadside bombs and other emplacements of improvised explosive devices pose a particular danger to advancing Iraqi forces and the U.S. advisers who are with them. The Islamic State group, which has occupied Mosul for more than two years, has prepared extensive defenses in and around the city.
*The Associated Press contributed to this report.