US, UK Soldiers Die During Training Exercise Accident in Iraq

A United States soldier and a United Kingdom soldier died Sunday during an Army training exercise in Iraq.

The tragedies were announced by both militaries via social media and, in the case of the British soldier who died, a message conveyed to Parliament. The U.S. Army said in an X post that the accident occurred Sunday at Irbil Air Base where the United States has maintained a presence in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

UK Defense Secretary John Healey told Parliament, specifically the House of Commons, that the soldier was killed during a training accident on Sunday. Both soldiers remained publicly unidentified until next of kin were notified, saying that would last at least 24 hours.

“The family have been informed and have asked for [a] period of grace before further details are released,” Healey said, according to The National, a news outlet covering the Middle East and headquartered in Abu Dhabi.

Video of Healey addressing Parliament shows him saying he is “deeply saddened by the death,”

Both soldiers reportedly were conducting the military training exercise at the same base and in cooperation with both militaries.

British troops are stationed in northern Iraq as part of the UK’s contribution to the international campaign against ISIS called Operation Shader. British personnel have been involved in training Iraqi security forces and Kurdish Peshmerga, with the special forces assigned to the mission, according to The National. Troops have also worked to defend the shared base from Iran-launched drone strikes.

The outlet reported that the British soldier’s death came the same day that the UK government announced it had signed a contract to acquire hundreds more Lightweight Multirole Missiles (LMMs) for its armed forces, to strengthen British posture and protect personnel in the Middle East.

This latest incident follows the search-and-rescue made by U.S. forces to recover two missing American soldiers in Morocco after a joint training exercise went awry. Ultimately, the bodies of Spc. Mariyah Symone Collington, 19, of Tavares, Fla., and 1st Lt. Kendrick Lamont Key Jr., a 27-year-old Army air defense officer from Richmond, Va., were recovered last month.

The soldiers’ bodies were recovered as part of a joint search operation executed by U.S. Army Europe and Africa in conjunction with Moroccan authorities.

The U.S. Army said that investigations in this latest incident remain underway to determine how the accident occurred and what specific causes or circumstances led to it. The exact type of training regimen was not disclosed by officials.