A U.S. Army soldier and a British Army counterpart were killed during a joint training exercise at Erbil Air Base in northern Iraq on May 31, U.S. Army Central (ARCENT) and the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed Monday.
In an X post, ARCENT confirmed the soldiers were training together at the time of the incident. “The training was conducted with our British Army partners who also lost a soldier,” ARCENT said. “The incident is under investigation.” The identity of the U.S. service member is being withheld for 24 hours pending next-of-kin notification.
The MoD said “with deep regret” that a British soldier died in northern Iraq that day. The soldier’s family has been notified and has requested a period of grace before additional details are released. UK Defence Secretary John Healey told the House of Commons he was “deeply saddened by the death” of the service member.
The deaths occurred at what has become the primary hub of America’s remaining military presence in Iraq.
After withdrawing from Ain al-Asad Air Base in January 2026 and completing the repositioning of forces from northeastern Syria to Iraqi Kurdistan in February, the U.S. consolidated the bulk of its remaining Iraq footprint at Erbil.
In December 2025, Washington opened the world’s largest U.S. consulate compound in Erbil, a 206,000-square-meter facility.
The incident comes less than a month after two U.S. Army soldiers died during an off-duty recreational hike in Morocco while participating in African Lion 2026, a multinational U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) exercise.
The soldiers were reported missing on May 2 after falling from a cliff near the Cap Draa Training Area. Their remains were later recovered following an 11-day multinational search operation.
