Taliban claim attack that killed US soldier in Afghanistan
Kabul, Afghanistan - The Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack on Monday on American troops that killed one US soldier and, according to the insurgents, wounded several more.
The killing is likely to have consequences for ongoing talks between the US and the Taliban. President Donald Trump in September declared negotiations ‘dead’ after the Taliban killed a US soldier in a Kabul bombing.
Negotiations have since restarted in Doha, but were earlier this month put on a ‘pause’ following yet another bombing, this time at the Bagram air base north of Kabul.
In a WhatsApp message, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said insurgents ‘blew up an American vehicle in Char Dara district of Kunduz’ overnight Sunday-Monday. He said ‘several’ other US and Afghan forces were also wounded.
US Forces-Afghanistan said one American service member was ‘killed in action’ on Monday.
A US official said that the service member had been inspecting a weapons cache when it exploded.
“This was not the result of an attack as the enemy claims,” the official said.
Kunduz province is in northern Afghanistan and has been the site of repeated insurgent attacks and attempts to seize Kunduz city itself.
Depending on how one qualifies a combat-related death, about 20 American troops have been killed in action in Afghanistan this year.
That makes 2019 the deadliest for US forces since combat operations officially finished at the end of 2014, and highlights the woeful security situation that persists across much of Afghanistan.
About 2,400 US troops have been killed in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion in October 2001.
Currently, the Pentagon has 12,000-13,000 troops in Afghanistan.