US Defence Secretary Mark Esper has fired Navy chief Richard Spencer after losing confidence in him over his handling of the case of a Navy Seal.

The SEAL was acquitted by a military jury in July of murdering a captured and wounded Dash militant in Iraq.

Richard Spencer has been pushing for Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher to face a peer review board that could have led to him being forced out of the elite force.

NNR/Asad