Washington confirms US soldier killed in Mosul IED attack

A U.S. service member who died as the result of an improvised explosive blast on patrol in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, was identified by the US army on Sunday as one 1st Lieutenant Weston Lee. 

Lee, 25, of Bluffon, Georgia, served as an infantry officer with the 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade Combat team. He deployed to Iraq in 2016, his first deployment. 

Colonel Pat Work, commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat team, described Lee as "an extraordinary young man and officer," in a statement published on the Army Times website. 

"He was exactly the type of leader that our paratroopers deserve … Our sincere condolences and prayers are with his family and friends during this difficult time." 

The news follows the deaths of two US servicemen in a raid in Afghanistan earlier this week.

Lee's death marks the fifth combat fatality suffered by US troops since Washington launched its operations targeting IS in August 2014, and the second since Mosul operations began in October 2016. 

There are currently more US troops stationed in Iraq than at any other time since the Obama administration oversaw the US withdrawal from the country in 2011.