A U.S. service member helping in the fight against ISIS in Syria died of natural causes in Northern Syria on Wednesday, U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
The statement released no further details and has yet to disclose the name of the service member because the next of kin and family have to be notified first.
This is the second known death of an American in Syria and the first since November. Senior Chief Petty Officer Scott Cooper Dayton was killed by an IED blast near Ayn Issa, just north of the city of Raqqa.
There are roughly 900 U.S. troops, mostly made up of U.S. special operations forces, in Syria providing support for the fight against ISIS as they prepare for an assault on the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed capital of Raqqa. Recently, Marine artillery personnel attached to the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit arrived in Syria to support the fight in and around Raqqa.
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