Two soldiers died this week serving in the Middle East as part of Operation Inherent Resolve. The Pentagon said both men died from non-combat injuries. (U.S. Army Reserve)

WASHINGTON — Two soldiers serving in the Middle East as part of Operation Inherent Resolve died from non-combat injuries, the Pentagon announced Wednesday.

Staff Sgt. Saul Fabian Gonzalez, 26, of Pullman, Mich., died Tuesday in Erbil, Iraq. The incident is under investigation.

He was assigned to D Troop, 2nd Squadron, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) from Fort Campbell, Ky.

Sgt. 1st Class Emmett Wilfred Goodridge Jr., 40, of Roseville, Minn., died Sunday at Camp Buehring, Kuwait. The incident is under investigation.

He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division from Fort Drum, N.Y.

For more than a decade, the U.S. has been conducting Operation Inherent Resolve, a mission aimed at defeating the Islamic State group in Syria and neighboring Iraq.

Since the territorial defeat of ISIS in 2019, the U.S. has consistently maintained troops in northeastern Syria to train and assist Kurdish partners in the Syrian Democratic Forces, as well as a smaller contingent near the southern border with Jordan and Iraq.

The Pentagon announced in April that U.S. troops in Syria will begin to consolidate their operations in the country, shutting down some bases in the coming months and leaving less than 1,000 service members there.

The number of U.S. bases in Syria will be pared from eight to one, U.S. officials have said.