US soldier died in Iraq from non-combat injuries

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – An American soldier has succumbed to injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident at a military base in Iraq.

US soldier, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Lee M. Smith, 35, of Arlington, Texas died on Saturday due to injuries sustained from a non-combat related role at Camp Taji, Iraq near Baghdad, the US Department of Defense announced on Sunday.

He was assigned to the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division in Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

Smith was deployed to Iraq to support Operation Inherent Resolve which was established by the US-led coalition in 2014 to defeat ISIS in designated parts of Iraq and Syria.

The incident of his death is currently under investigation.

There have been a total of 41 US Coalition casualties in Iraq since the war against ISIS began in 2014. Fatalities include those in combat and non-combat roles as reported by Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, icasualties.org.