us soldier
© Rodi Said / ReutersUS army soldier seen in the town of Tabqa, Syria, June 29, 2017
A roadside bomb in the Syrian town of Manbij has killed two members of the US-led anti-ISIS coalition and injured five more. One of the killed was American and the other British, according to multiple reports.

Although the Coalition has yet to officially identify the casualties, a number of news outlets have already reported them as American and British. Fox News and Reuters cited a US military official, while Sky News cited the UK Ministry of Defence.

This was the first casualty the US military sustained in Syria, according to Fox. Five other troops were injured in the explosion on March 29. Their identities have not been made available.

A spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) - the official name of the US-led military operation against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) in Iraq and Syria - confirmed in a brief statement on Thursday that "two Coalition personnel were killed and five were wounded by an improvised explosive device in Syria."

The blast took place near Manbij, a city in the northeast of Aleppo governorate, two US officials who spoke on condition of anonymity told Reuters. Manbij was liberated from IS in August 2016, by US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the majority of whom are Kurds. Turkey has objected to the SDF presence in Manbij, as Ankara considers the Kurdish militias terrorists.

OIR said the names of slain service members "will be released at the discretion of the pertinent national authorities," adding details of the incident are being withheld "pending further investigation."