Footage shows Iraq rescue

A U.S. Army carry team moves the transfer case of U.S. Army Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler. Photo / Getty Images

Commando’s camera offers glimpse of dramatic mission freeing dozens of prisoners.

Dramatic video footage has emerged showing the critical moments of a hostage rescue mission in Iraq that saw the release of dozens of prisoners and ended in the death of a United States Special Forces commando.

Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler became the first American to die in a combat operation against Isis (Islamic State) last week, when his Delta Force unit joined Kurdish peshmerga troops in attacking an Isis outpost on the eastern outskirts of the Iraqi town of Hawija.

The video footage was released by the Kurdish regional government, and sources in the US Pentagon have confirmed that is it authentic.

Filmed from a camera attached to a helmet of one of the commandos, the viewer sees the scene more or less as that soldier did. The barrel of his firearm hovers constantly in view at the bottom of the screen.

It shows troops dressed in combat camouflage sweeping into a burning prison, keeping their fingers on the triggers of their firearms, as men wearing jalabiyas - long white robes - walk out in single file.

The hostages are barefoot, their postures are cowed and their hands are held high over their heads to show they are unarmed. The crackle of continuous small arms echoes through the dark cell, and shattered glass lies on the floor. Some of the men seem covered in blood, and disorientated. Soldiers order them to "keep moving" in Arabic.

In a separate scene the commandos enter a darkened office that has a giant black and white Isis flag draped on the far wall.

Then the soldier wearing the body camera pats down and empties the pockets of four more local men and hurries them down a hallway.

"Hold that guy there," says one voice with an American accent. "We got more coming."

In total as many as 70 Iraqi hostages were released, including almost two dozen Iraqi soldiers.

The US and Saudi Arabia have dramatically responded to Russian air strikes in support of the Assad regime by agreeing to boost their own military and diplomatic support for the Syrian rebels. John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, met King Salman of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh for talks. Despite Russian leaders saying they had extracted promises of fresh elections from President Bashar al-Assad, Kerry and the Saudi ruler presented a common front in agreeing to hit the regime harder. "They pledged to continue and intensify support to the moderate Syrian opposition while the political track is being pursued," the State Department later said.