US Service Member Is Killed in Afghanistan; Taliban Claim Attack – By The Canadian Press (Military.com) / Dec 23 2019
KABUL — An American service member was killed in combat Monday in Afghanistan, the U.S. military said, without providing further details, while the Taliban claimed they were behind a roadside bombing in northern Kunduz province that killed the U.S. troop.
The latest fatality brings the number of U.S. deaths in Afghanistan this year to 20. There have also been three non-combat deaths in 2019. More than 2,400 Americans have died in the nearly 18-year conflict.
The Taliban now control or hold sway over practically half of Afghanistan but continue to stage near-daily attacks targeting Afghan and U.S. forces, as well as government officials — even as they hold peace talks with a U.S. envoy tasked with negotiating an end to what has become America’s longest war. Scores of Afghan civilians are also killed in the crossfire or by roadside bombs planted by militants.
Monday’s U.S. military statement did not identify the U.S. service member or say where in Afghanistan the service member was killed. It said that in accordance with U.S. Department of Defense policy, names of service member killed in action are being withheld for 24 hours, until the notification of the family is completed.
Last month, two U.S. service members were killed in Afghanistan when their helicopter crashed in eastern Logar province. The Taliban also claimed responsibility for that crash, saying they had downed the helicopter, causing many fatalities. The U.S. military dismissed the Taliban claim as false.
Continue to article: https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/12/23/us-soldier-killed-afghanistan-taliban-claim-attack.html
In this Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019 photo, Resolute Support (RS) forces remove a destroyed vehicle after a car bomb explosion in Kabul, Afghanistan. An American service member was killed in action on Monday in Afghanistan the U.S. military said in a statement without providing more details. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
