Army captain from Michigan seriously injured in Syria bombing
An army captain from Michigan is one of three United States troops injured in a Syrian bombing earlier this week, according to Congressman Dan Kildee's office.
U.S. Army Captain Jonathan Turnbull from Genesee County was rushed to Iraq after the bombing where he underwent surgery.
Turnbull was among those hurt Wednesday in a suicide bombing at a market in northern Syria that killed 16 people, including two U.S. soldiers and two American civilians. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to an Associated Press report.
Turnbull was "seriously injured" in the bombing, a spokesman with Kildee's office told The Detroit News Friday. He was stabilized to the best of their abilities and then flown to Germany to meet family.
The soldier's family reached out to Kildee, a close friend, to ask for assistance with passports to meet him overseas. The soldier's wife was in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where the couple now lives, when she found out about the attack.
While Turnbull's condition was not immediately known, Kildee's spokesman said his wife and their 6-year-old son are now by his side in Germany.
The attack in the strategic northeastern town of Manbij highlighted the threat posed by the Islamic State group, despite President Donald Trump’s claims. It could also complicate what had already become a messy withdrawal plan, with Trump's senior advisers disagreeing with the decision and then offering an evolving timetable for the removal of the approximately 2,000 U.S. troops.
The attack was the deadliest assault on U.S. troops in Syria since American forces went into the country in 2015, according to the AP report.
Kildee and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer have reached out to the family for support.
srahal@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @SarahRahal_
The Associated Press contributed