U.S. service member killed in Afghanistan, marking third combat fatality there this year

A U.S. service member died in Afghanistan during an operation.

(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

published 4 October 2016

On Tuesday, a U.S. service member in Afghanistan was killed while carrying out an operation against the Islamic State, a U.S. defense official announced. The incident happened in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province and was part of a "larger United States-Afghan counterterrorism mission." The Washington Post noted that this is the "third U.S. combat fatality in Afghanistan this year."

The service member's identity has yet to be released, but it's been reported that the person killed was a U.S. special operations commando. The exact cause of death is still under investigation, but military officials said the service member was killed "when the patrol triggered an improvised explosive device," commonly known as an IED.