A British special forces soldier has been killed by an improvised explosive device in Syria, in the first death of a serving UK troop in the fight against the Islamic State.

An American was also killed by the roadside bomb in the northern Syrian city of Manbij on Thursday, which also wounded four members of the local council.

The unnamed British soldier was embedded with US special forces overseeing a clean-up operation in Manbij, which was controlled by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) until it was taken by allied Kurdish and Arab forces in the summer of 2016.

The city, close to the border with Turkey, earned the nickname “Little London” because of the large numbers of British Isil fighters stationed in the city during the days of the “caliphate”.

A Ministry Of Defence spokesperson said: "It is with regret that we must confirm that a member of the UK Armed Forces was killed by an improvised explosive device in Syria yesterday.

"The individual was embedded with US forces on a counter-Daesh operation when the incident occurred. "The family has been notified and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time. </s> An RAF airstrike against three Islamic State fighters in eastern Syria on 26 March “unintentionally” killed a civilian, Gavin Williamson, the defence secretary, has said in a written ministerial statement.

It is the first time the Ministry of Defence has confirmed a civilian casualty during Britain’s campaign against the terror group in Iraq and Syria. The defence secretary said the RAF had conducted more than 1,600 airstrikes in Iraq and Syria.

“We do everything we can to minimise the risk to civilian life from UK strikes through our rigorous targeting processes and the professionalism of UK service personnel. It is therefore deeply regrettable that a UK airstrike on 26 March 2018, targeting Daesh [Isis] fighters in eastern Syria, resulted in an unintentional civilian fatality.

“During a strike to engage three Daesh fighters, a civilian motorbike crossed into the strike area at the last moment and it is assessed that one civilian was unintentionally killed.” </s> A suicide car bomb attack has killed five members of a Kurdish-led force while they were out on a patrol with US troops in northeastern Syria.

The five fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were killed in the attack, which occurred near a checkpoint on a road near the town of al-Shadadi in Hasakah province, according to UK-based war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"A combined US and Syrian partner force convoy was involved in an apparent VBIED attack today in Syria," Sean Ryan, spokesman for the US-led coalition, wrote on Twitter, adding that there were no US casualties.

The incident marked the third major attack on SDF and coalition forces since Donald Trump, the US president, announced he was withdrawing all 2,000 troops from Syria in December.

Last week a suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest outside a restaurant in northern city of Manbij, where US coalition forces were on patrol, killing 16 people including two American soldiers and two American contractors. Three more US servicemen were injured.

The attack, which was claimed by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil), was the deadliest against US forces since they deployed in Syria in 2015.

On January 5, they fired a heat-seeking missile into a group of coalition troops on patrol further south in Deir Ezzor, injuring five British special forces. </s> A suicide car bomb attack has killed five members of a Kurdish-led force in northeastern Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said five fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were killed in the attack, which occurred near a checkpoint on a road near the town of al-Shadadi in Hasakah province.

The incident marked the third major attack on SDF and coalition forces since Donald Trump, the US president, announced he was withdrawing all 2,000 troops from Syria in December.

Last week a suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest outside a restaurant in northern city of Manbij, where US coalition forces were on patrol, killing 16 people including two American soldiers and two American contractors. Three more US servicemen were injured.

The attack, which was claimed by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil), was the deadliest against US forces since they deployed in Syria in 2015.

On January 5, they fired a heat-seeking missile into a group of coalition troops on patrol further south in Deir Ezzor, injuring five British special forces.

Mr Trump announced in a tweet that Isil had been defeated in Syria and he would pull American forces out of the country. </s> A civilian was killed by a UK airstrike targeting Islamic State in Syria, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed for the first time.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson described the "unintentional civilian fatality" on 26 March as "deeply regrettable".

The RAF had targeted three IS fighters in eastern Syria when a civilian motorbike "crossed into the strike area at the last moment", he said.

It is the first time the MoD has confirmed a civilian casualty during Britain's campaign against the terror group in Iraq and Syria.

"These events serve to remind us of the consequences of conflict and of the heavy price that the people of Syria have paid," Mr Williamson said.

"It reminds us that when we undertake military action, we must do so knowing that it can never be completely without risk.

"Such incidents will not weaken our resolve to defeat Daesh and rid the world of its poisonous ideology of hate and intolerance."

The MoD said an RAF Reaper drone "tracked a group of terrorists in a vehicle in the Syrian Euphrates valley" and "successfully destroyed it and its occupants with a precision Hellfire missile attack".

It concluded that a civilian had been killed following "detailed post-strike analysis" of the airstrike, Mr Williamson said.

An investigation by the "wider Coalition" will report in due course, he added. </s> An RAF strike on the Islamic State group has caused a civilian casualty, the Ministry of Defence has admitted for the first time.

It says a Reaper drone fired on an IS vehicle in eastern Syria on 26 March this year, "unintentionally" killing a civilian on a motorbike when he crossed the target area at the last minute.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said the incident was "deeply regrettable".

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The MoD says it has done "everything possible" to minimise the risk to civilians.

The UK is second to the US in the number of airstrikes it conducted for a coalition of 75 countries formed in 2014 to defeat IS.

In a written ministerial statement, the defence secretary said the assessment of the civilian death was made after "routine and detailed post-strike analysis".

Mr Williamson said: "These events serve to remind us of the consequences of conflict and of the heavy price that the people of Syria have paid.

"It reminds us that when we undertake military action, we must do so knowing that it can never be completely without risk."

He added the incident would "not weaken" the UK's resolve to defeat IS.

In a statement issued after the attack, the MoD had said the Reaper drone "tracked a group of terrorists in a vehicle in the Syrian Euphrates valley... and successfully destroyed it and its occupants with a precision Hellfire missile attack".

Up until now, the MoD said it had seen "no evidence" that its strikes had caused civilian casualties.

But on Monday a BBC investigation suggested other civilians may have been killed as a result of RAF air strikes.

A source inside the coalition fighting IS highlighted a strike on 9 January last year in Mosul, Iraq, when an RAF Tornado fired a Brimstone missile on what was described as a "lorry bomb" in eastern Mosul.

It caused a large secondary explosion and the source said he believed two civilians were "almost certainly" killed.

The BBC has also discovered evidence that some RAF bombs have malfunctioned and strayed off target, potentially leading to civilian deaths. </s> A roadside bomb in the Syrian town of Manbij has killed two members of the US-led anti-ISIS coalition and injured five more. One of the killed was American and the other British, according to multiple reports.Although the Coalition has yet to officially identify the casualties, a number of news outlets have already reported them as American and British. Fox News and Reuters cited a US military official, while Sky News cited the UK Ministry of Defence.A spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) - the official name of the US-led military operation against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) in Iraq and Syria - confirmed in a brief statement on Thursday that "two Coalition personnel were killed and five were wounded by an improvised explosive device in Syria."The blast took place near Manbij, a city in the northeast of Aleppo governorate, two US officials who spoke on condition of anonymity told Reuters. Manbij was liberated from IS in August 2016, by US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the majority of whom are Kurds. Turkey has objected to the SDF presence in Manbij, as Ankara considers the Kurdish militias terrorists.OIR said the names of slain service members "will be released at the discretion of the pertinent national authorities," adding details of the incident are being withheld "pending further investigation." </s> An American and a British service member in the US-led coalition battling Islamic State were killed by an improvised explosive device in Syria, US and British officials said on Friday. They are the first coalition service members to be killed or wounded in an attack this year.

Two US officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity and citing initial information, said one of the people killed in the blast on Thursday blast was an American. They said the incident took place near the city of Manbij in northern Syria. Later, the British Ministry of Defence said a soldier embedded with US forces was also killed. The soldier’s family had been informed, a ministry spokesperson said. Earlier on Friday, a coalition statement said two personnel had been killed and five wounded in Syria, but did not provide their nationalities. The wounded were evacuated for treatment, according to the statement.

The explosion happened on Thursday night, the coalition statement said. Manbij has largely been cleared of Islamic State and is significant because Turkey, which stormed the northern Syrian town of Afrin after an offensive against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, has repeatedly threatened to push its operations farther east to Manbij.

About 10 coalition personnel have been killed in non-combat-related incidents since Jan. 1, including seven Americans who died in a helicopter crash in Iraq earlier this month.

Islamic State militants continue to carry out bombings, ambushes and assassinations in Syria and Iraq despite the collapse last year of the cross-border “caliphate” declared in 2014 by their leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, whose whereabouts are unknown. The United States says it has about 5,200 troops in Iraq, deployed alongside Iraqi armed forces. Some 2,000 US troops are in Syria, allied to a Kurdish-led alliance that holds the largest swath of territory still outside the control of forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. The American casualty comes a day after President Donald Trump said the United States would be leaving Syria “very soon.” The State Department said it was not aware of any plans to withdraw from Syria.

Senior officials have said there is a need for a longer-term U.S. commitment in Syria. Last year, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said he expected to see a larger U.S. civilian presence in Syria, including contractors and diplomats, as the fight against Islamic State militants nears its end and the focus turns toward rebuilding and ensuring the militants do not return . Mattis has previously stated that U.S. forces will stay in Syria as long as Islamic State fighters want to fight and prevent the return of an “ISIS 2.0.”

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App </s> A Royal Air Force airstrike targeting three Islamic State fighters in Syria has killed a civilian on a motorbike who rode into the target zone, it emerged today.

The airstrike on March 26 'unintentionally' killed the civilian who crossed into the strike area 'at the last moment', Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said.

It is the first time the Ministry of Defence has confirmed a civilian casualty during Britain's campaign against the terror group in Iraq and Syria.

Britain has carried out more than 1,600 air strikes in Iraq and Syria - and UK forces have trained 60,000 members of the Iraqi Security Force, Mr Williamson said.

An MoD statement on the attack from March 26 said: 'A Reaper tracked a group of terrorists in a vehicle in the Syrian Euphrates valley on Monday March 26, and successfully destroyed it and its occupants with a precision Hellfire missile attack.'

In January, it was revealed that RAF crews had taken out ISIS terrorists using drones for reconnaissance and bombing raids in Syria for the first time.

Last year military commanders claimed victory against ISIS in Iraq, but the US-led coalition is continuing the battle against the militants in Syria.

Mr Williamson said: 'We do everything we can to minimise the risk to civilian life from UK strikes through our rigorous targeting processes and the professionalism of UK Service personnel.

'It is therefore deeply regrettable that a UK air strike on March 26, 2018, targeting Daesh fighters in eastern Syria, resulted in an unintentional civilian fatality.

'During a strike to engage three Daesh fighters, a civilian motorbike crossed into the strike area at the last moment and it is assessed that one civilian was unintentionally killed.

'We reached this conclusion after undertaking routine and detailed post-strike analysis of all available evidence.'

He added that the wider coalition will carry out an investigation, but the UK's commitment to fighting against ISIS 'will remain as strong as ever'.

The confirmation comes one day after a source inside the coalition told the BBC that he believed civilians could have been killed by RAF airstrikes.

That claim brought into doubt a previous statement by the Ministry of Defence that it had seen 'no evidence' of its strikes in Iraq causing civilian casualties.

But the MoD confirmed today that the incident on March 26 saw the only civilian death caused by RAF strikes on ISIS in Iraq or Syria since they began.

Mr Williamson said: 'These events serve to remind us of the consequences of conflict and of the heavy price that the people of Syria have paid.

'It reminds us that when we undertake military action, we must do so knowing that it can never be completely without risk.

'Such incidents will not weaken our resolve to defeat Daesh and rid the world of its poisonous ideology of hate and intolerance.'
A roadside bomb in Syria kills one British and one U.S. soldier and injures five more coalition personnel. It is the first death of a British soldier fighting ISIL.