An American soldier was killed in Afghanistan while conducting a joint operation with Afghan forces against the Islamic State over the weekend, a U.S. military spokesman announced Sunday.
The death of the unnamed Special Forces operator marked the first American casualty in Afghanistan this year.
"The soldier was mortally wounded late Saturday during an operation in Nangarhar Province," in eastern Afghanistan, Capt. Bill Salvin, a spokesman for the American forces in Afghanistan, said in a statement on Twitter.
— Resolute Support (@ResoluteSupport) April 8, 2017
The Obama administration last year authorized U.S. commanders in Afghanistan to begin targeting ISIS's offshoot in the region, known as the Khorasan Province. U.S. officials estimate the militant group has only 700 fighters, but Afghan officials estimate the number is more than double at 1,500 fighters.
