U.S. service member killed, two hurt in fighting in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON >> One American service member was killed and two wounded Tuesday in southern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said in a statement.

The service member died “as a result of wounds sustained during operations near Marjah,” a district in the southern province of Helmand that has been the scene of heavy fighting in recent weeks between coalition forces and Taliban insurgents.

“We are deeply saddened by this loss,” U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Wilson A. Shoffner, spokesman for the U.S.-led military coalition, said in a statement.

Officials said two U.S. medevac helicopters were sent to help U.S. special forces who came under an insurgent attack near Marjah.

One of the helicopters was waved off because of small-arms and mortar fire on the ground, the officials said. The other chopper had a “hard landing” and was disabled when its rotors hit a wall.

The damaged aircraft was unable to take off and remained on the ground, officials said.

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told reporters that Defense Secretary Ashton Carter was briefed about the firefight by commanders in Kabul, the Afghan capital, via video conference.

In recent weeks, U.S. special forces and Afghan government forces have deployed in Helmand province to try to repel a months-long Taliban offensive. The effort to regain ground from a resurgent Taliban has taken place amid deteriorating security in large parts of Afghanistan.

Last month, six U.S. troops were killed by a suicide car bomb as they conducted a security patrol near Bagram airfield, the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan.