US soldier injured by gunfire in Iraq

A US Army soldier has been slightly wounded by gunfire at a base in Iraq where American troops are training their Iraqi counterparts, the Pentagon said Friday.

The incident marked the first time an American soldier was wounded on the battlefield in Iraq since US forces returned to the country last year to help troops take on the Islamic State group.

The soldier suffered a superficial “laceration” on his face from gunfire directed at a guard tower where he was on duty at Besmaya base, southeast of the capital Baghdad, spokesman Colonel Steven Warren told reporters.

The wound may have been the result of a ricochet of a bullet off a concrete barrier, officials said.

The two US troops on the guard tower “returned fire” and the injured soldier was treated and returned to duty, Warren said.

After invading and occupying Iraq between 2003 to 2011, US troops withdrew but returned last year to help counter the IS militants.

About 2,600 US troops are advising and training Iraqi and Kurdish forces while American aircraft are carrying out daily air strikes against the IS group.

But President Barack Obama has ruled out sending American soldiers into direct combat against the IS jihadists.