California Marine is first soldier to die in Iraq on U.S. mission against ISIS

Marine Lance Corporal Sean Neal, a 19-year-old old from California, died in Baghdad on Thursday in what a Pentagon statement described as a non-combat incident. Further details about how Neal died were not immediately available.

Earlier this month, a U.S. Marine was deemed lost at sea after he fell from an aircraft into the Arabian Gulf.

The Pentagon said Neal’s death was the first U.S. casualty in Iraq since the Obama administration announced its ‘Inherent Resolve’ mission, which now includes air strikes against the extremist group in both Iraq and Syria, and a growing number of U.S. military personnel on the ground in Iraq.