[BBC] A US service member was killed and four US troops were maimed during a "combat engagement" in Afghanistan on New Year's Day, the Pentagon has said.The soldier died in Achin, Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
province, along the Pakistain border - an area which has become a stronghold for the so-called Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
(IS).
The Pentagon did not release additional details or identify the US soldier who was killed.
"We are deeply saddened by the loss of one of our own," an official said.
"At this very difficult time our heartfelt sympathies go out to the families and friends of our fallen and maimed brothers," said Army Gen John Nicholson, commander of US forces in Afghanistan.
At least 15 Americans died in Afghanistan in 2017, according to icasulties.org, which tracks US deaths in foreign conflicts.
The Pentagon, which did not describe how the death occurred, said that two of the maimed soldiers are still recovering "in a nearby medical treatment facility and are in stable, pH balanced condition".
The other two injured soldiers have been returned to active duty, the statement said.