There was a US soldier killed in Afghanistan during a “combat engagement” on New Year’s Day. Four other soldiers were injured in the same engagement, according to a statement issued by the US military on Tuesday.
US soldier killed in Afghanistan
Gen. John Nicholson, who is the top commander for US forces in Afghanistan, expressed his condolences. The military did not release the name of the US soldier killed in Afghanistan.
In 2017, officials changed their policies for the release of casualty reports among US military forces in the country. Officials do not release the names of soldiers killed in active duty there until after the next-of-kin has been notified. As a result, it could be several days before we know the name of the US soldier killed there on Monday.
Two of the four soldiers who were injured in the same incident have already returned to active duty, while the other two remain in stable condition at a hospital in Afghanistan.
Battle continues in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province
The US soldier killed in Afghanistan died in an engagement that was carried out in eastern Afghanistan in Nangarhar province’s Achin district. Although the formal US combat mission in the country was concluded about three years ago, the American military still battles militants with the Taliban and the Islamic State, which remain active in Nangarhar province. In April 2017, US commanders in Afghanistan called for the “Mother of all Bombs” to be used against the Islamic State stronghold in Achin, and the fighting there appears to still be intense now.
According to RT, Achin is especially considered to be an Islamic State stronghold. Afghan media reported several airstrikes carried out by the US military on Monday in Achin, Ambar Khan and Bati. Afghan officials reportedly told Chinese state-run media agency Xinhua that Afghan security forces launched an offensive against IS militants in Jawzjan and Nangarhar provinces, killing dozens of fighters. Citing a government spokesman, RT reports that in Nangarhar’s Haska Mina district, some 60 militants working with IS were killed this week, while another 18 were wounded.
