Another U.S. service member has been killed in action in Afghanistan, officials announced Monday.
The death was announced by NATO’s Resolute Support mission to the country in a press release.
A defense official told Army Times on background that the fallen soldier was a Green Beret, but did not specify the operator’s unit. A separate defense official said that there are no indications the attack was a green-on-blue incident.
"In accordance with U.S. Department of Defense policy, the name of the service member is being withheld until 24 hours after family notification is complete,” the release reads.
The death comes after peace talks between U.S. diplomats and the Taliban broke down earlier this month, and amid warnings from the top U.S. general for NATO that he expects increased violence in Afghanistan as that country’s elections draw nearer.
The peace talks collapsed after a round of deadly attacks by insurgents in Kabul that killed 12 people, including an American soldier and a Romanian soldier.
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The latest death adds to the 16 U.S. troops killed in action in Afghanistan this year, according to Defense Department figures. More than 80 other American personnel have been wounded in combat.
The last U.S. soldier killed was a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division on Sept. 5. Sgt. 1st Class Elis A. Barreto Ortiz, 34, was killed when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle in Kabul.
Prior to the peace talks being called off, President Donald Trump was mulling a potential reduction in U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan down to 8,600.
There are currently about 14,000 American service members in the country, alongside international troops, to advise and assist Afghan defense forces and to fight extremist groups like the Islamic State and al-Qaida.
The president has said that the end of the peace talks is being coupled with an increase in kinetic operations.
Trump told reporters at the White House last week that the peace talks are “dead, as far as I’m concerned," and added that American troops have "hit the Taliban harder in the last four days than they’ve been hit in over 10 years.”
This year has been the deadliest for U.S. forces in Afghanistan since the mission to the country scaled down at the start of 2015 and changed names from Operation Enduring Freedom to Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.
Kyle Rempfer was an editor and reporter who has covered combat operations, criminal cases, foreign military assistance and training accidents. Before entering journalism, Kyle served in U.S. Air Force Special Tactics and deployed in 2014 to Paktika Province, Afghanistan, and Baghdad, Iraq.
Meghann Myers is the Pentagon bureau chief at Military Times. She covers operations, policy, personnel, leadership and other issues affecting service members.
