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American Service Member and Civilian Killed in Attack in Afghanistan

Latest in a series of American casualties

President Obama salutes as a carry team carries the remains of Army Sgt. Dale R. Griffin, who died in Afghanistan, 2009 / AP
October 19, 2016

A service member and civilian, both of them American, died in an attack near a coalition base in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Wednesday.

The two Americans died from wounds sustained in an attack by an unknown assailant who was later killed, the NATO-led Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan said in a statement. The attack also injured another U.S. service member and two American civilians, though they are in stable condition.

"Anytime we lose a member of our team, it is deeply painful," Gen. John W. Nicholson, commander of U.S. Forces-Afghanistan and Resolute Support, said in a statement. "Our sympathies go out to the families, loved ones, and the units of those involved in this incident. To those who continue to target coalition forces, ANDSF, and Afghan civilians, RS and USFOR-A will continue to pursue our Train, Advise, and Assist mission to help our partners create a better Afghanistan."

The Pentagon did not immediately release the names of those killed. An investigation is being conducted into the attack to determine the circumstances.

U.S. and NATO troops are currently training and advising Afghan security forces fighting the Taliban as part of the years-long mission to liberate Afghanistan from insurgent control.

U.S. and Afghan personnel are also engaged in a counterterrorism mission in Afghanistan to root out the Islamic State offshoot known as the Khorasan Province.

The deaths are the latest in a series of American fatalities in Afghanistan. Earlier this month, Army Staff Sgt. Adam S. Thomas was killed in the Nangarhar Province by an improvised explosive device, or IED, explosion during operations against ISIS. At the end of August, Staff Sgt. Matthew V. Thompson, a Green Beret, was killed when his patrol triggered an IED in the Helmand province.

Published under: Afghanistan , Military