A U.S. military plane carrying more than a dozen troops and equipment is believed to have been destroyed by a bomb blast in Iraq, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
The Pentagon said the aircraft, which was carrying members of a U.N. peacekeeping force, was en route to Camp Lemonnier, a U.-backed base in eastern Iraq, when it crashed late Tuesday in the city of Tal Afar.
The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a bomb blew apart a C-130 Hercules cargo plane near Tal Afuar airport.
The group said the plane was carrying the U.
Ns. 2nd Battalion, 25th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Brigade Combat Group, 4-15th Infantry Division.
It said the force was on its way to Tal Afr to assist the Us. and other partners in a Uruzgan offensive against ISIS.
The United States has been conducting air strikes in Iraq since early March.
The United States also has carried out airstrikes in Syria in support of the Uruzeh offensive.
