The U.S. military says three American service members were killed Monday when an improvised explosive device went off near Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
Three other U.S. troops were wounded in the attack. They were evacuated and are receiving medical attention, according to a release from U.S. Forces – Afghanistan.
“In accordance with U.S. Department of Defense policy, the name of the service members killed in action are being withheld until 24 hours after notification of next of kin is complete,” the statement said.
So far this year, seven U.S. troops have been killed in combat in Afghanistan.
The U.S. military also initially said a contractor was killed in the blast, but on Tuesday walked that back, revealing the Afghan citizen is still alive.
Afghan security forces are battling the Taliban for the fifth day after Taliban fighters launched a wide-scale attack in the western Badghis Province, officials told the Associated Press Monday.
The Taliban effectively control nearly half the country and have continued to carry out daily attacks on Afghan security forces despite holding several rounds of peace talks with the United States in recent months.
