The explosion that killed an American and a British special operator in Syria last year was caused by coalition forces accidentally and not an enemy, as the Pentagon originally said, U.S. Special Operations Command has determined.
Army Master Sgt. Matthew Dunbar, 36, and British Sgt. Matthew Tonroe, 33, were killed by the accidental detonation of explosives carried by one of their team members, according to a SOCOM statement Monday that confirmed the findings of a British investigation.
The British Ministry of Defense said Sunday it had “initially believed that Sgt. Tonroe was killed by enemy action. However, subsequent investigation concluded that Sgt. Tonroe was killed by the accidental detonation of explosives carried by coalition forces.”
The initial U.S. investigation attributed the deaths to an enemy improvised explosive device. Five other troops were injured in the blast, which occurred outside Manbij in northern Syria in March 2018. The troops were on a “kill or capture” mission against a high-value enemy at the time.
SOCOM’s statement did not offer any detail as to why the Pentagon had reported the cause of death incorrectly.
Dunbar was from Austin, Texas, and had previously deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq. He joined the Army as an infantryman in May 2005 and served with the 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, before his assignment to SOCOM in 2013.
Dunbar was a decorated soldier whose awards include three Bronze Stars, the Army Achievement Medal, the Ranger Tab, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Pathfinder Badge, the Military Freefall Jumpmaster Badge, and the Parachutist Badge.
Tonroe, who was from Manchester, is reportedly the first British soldier to be killed in the fight against the Islamic State. He joined the British Army in 2004 and served in the sniper platoon of the 3rd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment in Colchester. He later joined the Special Air Services, the United Kingdom’s elite commando unit, and had deployed on operations in Afghanistan and the Middle East.
