Marine dies in noncombat incident in IS campaign

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon says a Marine who died Thursday in a noncombat incident in Baghdad was the second U.S. military death associated with the campaign against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

The Marine was identified as 19-year-old Lance Cpl. Sean P. Neal of Riverside, California. The Pentagon isn’t providing more details and says it’s investigating.

On Oct. 2, the Navy said a Marine who ejected from an MV-22 Osprey aircraft over the Persian Gulf was presumed lost at sea. The Osprey flew from aboard a Navy ship supporting U.S. operations in Iraq and Syria.

That was the first death associated with the fight against IS. But Pentagon officials say that Marine isn’t on the Defense Department’s public list of deaths because the official paperwork hasn’t been completed.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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