A
Navy SEAL killed in northern Iraq was a firefight and "died in combat," Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday, calling the death a "tragic loss."
The Washington Examiner reports Carter, speaking to reporters in Germany, elaborated on the Tuesday death of Charles Keating IV, 31, during an attack of about 100 ISIS fighters against Kurdish Peshmerga forces.
"He was in a firefight and he died in combat, so let me be very, very clear about that," Carter said, the Examiner reports.
"We are participants in this, and I just want to be clear. This young man found himself in combat, and sacrificed for this campaign’s success accordingly."
"This service member's tragic loss ... and there's nothing I take more seriously as secretary of Defense than sending people in a situation where they have risks like this," he said, adding "the whole country has to be grateful to this young man and his family for this sacrifice."
Keating is the third American combat casualty since the U.S. redeployed forces to Iraq in 2014.
According to
The Hill, Keating was part of a quick reaction force responding to U.S. troops pinned down in combat.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.