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While reading an article, I went through the following line:

U.S. troops recaptured the city in after a battle that included some of the most intense house-to-house fighting of the entire U.S.-led war in Iraq, with at least 95 U.S. troops killed.

I feel that here 'in' is not necessary as the given sentence looks correct with 'after':

U.S. troops recaptured the city after a battle...

What say native speakers, is this a proper sentence with 'in' before 'after'?

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  • 1
    strange use of the verb 'recapture'. I second you on this! You recapture something/somebody and not with 'in'
    – Maulik V
    Jun 11, 2016 at 5:31
  • 3
    It is a typo...
    – user3169
    Jun 11, 2016 at 5:53
  • 4
    Not merely unnecessary but, to my ear, outright wrong. It looks like nothing more than a typo. Perhaps the object of the preposition was lost in transcription.
    – Gary Botnovcan
    Jun 11, 2016 at 5:59

1 Answer 1

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Both 'in' and 'after' would work separately, with 'in' having more of a connotation that the battle was the means through which they recaptured it. Seems like the author first wanted to say one thing, then changed his mind, but forgot to remove the first one.

U.S. troops recaptured the city in a battle...

versus

U.S. troops recaptured the city after a battle...
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