“The service member was killed conducting train, advise, assist activities with Afghan counterparts under North Atlantic Treaty Organisation authorities when their patrol triggered an improvised explosive device”.
Advertisement
Another U.S. service member and six Afghan troops were also wounded in the attack.
An American soldier was killed and another wounded by a roadside bomb on Tuesday during an operation in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province, the USA military said.
The identity of the service member killed in the incident is being withheld, pending next-of-kin notification.
On Tuesday, General Cleveland said, “The service members killed and wounded today were not a part of the new advisory mission in Lashkar Gah”, suggesting that they were part of the regular advisory support the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation mission has been providing Afghan special operation forces, often traveling with them in their raids.
The militants have been clashing with security forces in Kunduz city over the past couple of days as they tried to overrun the city which was briefly seized by the Taliban in late September a year ago. In January, a USA soldier was killed by small arms fire near the Marjah district, also in Helmand. A small group of USA advisers is based at the airport in Kunduz, but local officials said Tuesday that they had not left the outpost to join operations.
It marked the second time this year that an American soldier was killed in hostile circumstances in Afghanistan.
The US has deployed troops in Helmand as part of an effort to prevent the Taliban from taking Lashkar Gah.
In June, President Obama loosened combat restrictions in Afghanistan for the United States military, which remains mostly focused on missions to train and advise Afghan forces and to conduct counterterrorism operations against Al Qaeda and Islamic State affiliates. North Atlantic Treaty Organisation also did not say which branch of the military he or she served in.
Faryab is among the relatively volatile provinces in northern Afghanistan where the Taliban insurgents and militants belonging to the other insurgents are active in a number of its remote districts.
Provincial governor Hayatullah Hayat said Tuesday that Afghan forces had launched operations in four parts of Helmand over the last 24 hours, killing or wounding scores of insurgents.
The security problems in Afghanistan are not the least bit isolated in Helmand province.
Advertisement
“The U.S. forces have been participating in some special ground operations with the Afghan commando forces,” said one Afghan official in Helmand who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the issue.
