Iraq - 70 Prisoners RESCUED! - October 22, 2015

As many as 30 Americans took part in the operation, which aimed to free 17 Kurdish fighters known as Peshmerga at a prison facility held by Islamic State near the town of Hawija, U.S. officials said.

When they reached the prison, they found many more prisoners than they had expected. But they didn't find the Peshmerga fighters they originally intended to rescue, raising questions of the quality of the intelligence that led the force there in the first place.

Of the 70 people rescued, American officials said 20 were members of Iraqi security forces including Sunni Arabs, as well as a number of other unidentified civilians.

The U.S. backed the Kurdish force by providing assistance including helicopters, intelligence, advice, and logistics. The American commandos used at least five helicopters in the raid, U.S. and Iraqi officials said.

The prison, almost 150 miles north of Baghdad, was located in the former home of an Iraqi judge that had been seized by Islamic State, said Najmaldin Karim, the governor of Kirkuk province where the town of Hawija is located. The building also served as headquarters for the extremist group, he said.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/american-killed-in-raid-to-rescue-kurdish-fighters-in-iraq-1445523452