A U.S. Marine was killed when ISIS fired rockets at a military base near the city of Makhmour in Nineveh province. Iraqi and Kurdish forces are preparing an assault on the city to liberate it from IS. The Marine killed near the front line on Saturday is the second since U.S. military began advising and operating with Iraqi forces against ISIS militants. Middle East Eye reports: “Earlier today a US Marine providing force protection fire support at a recently established coalition fire base near Makhmur in northern Iraq was killed after coming under ISIL (IS) rocket fire,” a Pentagon statement said. “Several other Marines were wounded and they are being treated for their varying injuries.” Makhmur is a district about 70 kilometres southeast of the main IS hub of Mosul, within territory controlled by the autonomous northern region of Kurdistan. Nicholas A. Heras, a Middle East researcher at the Centre for a New American Security said: “US soldiers conducting advise-and-assist missions with anti-ISIS forces in Iraq, even when working away from the frontlines, are in a warzone. The attack on the Makhmour base is a harassment raid. It is by no means a game-changer, however it serves as a warning that [...]