German Anti-ISIS Coalition Chief Found Dead in Iraq Hotel

SEP 23 2015, 11:16 AM ET

German Anti-ISIS Coalition Chief Found Dead in Iraq Hotel

by ANDY ECKARDT and SARAH BURKE

MAINZ, Germany — A German army chief in the U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS in Iraq was found dead in his hotel room there Wednesday, officials said.

Colonel Stephan Spoettel was found dead at 8:50 a.m. local time (1:50 a.m. ET) in the Cristal Erbil Hotel in the northern Kurdish city of Irbil, the German armed forces said in a statement.

Spoettel was the head of the coalition's German training contingent in northern Iraq. There was no information to suggest suicide or "third-party involvement," the statement added.

Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S. name for the coalition fighting the extremists across Iraq and Syria, said in a statement that a member of the coalition had died in Irbil on Wednesday, without providing further details.

"This incident is under investigation and further information will be released as appropriate," the statement added.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/an...-irbil-n432291