The Defense Department identified on Thursday a soldier who died in Afghanistan this week.
Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler, 27, of Monticello, Utah, died Wednesday in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, due to “injuries suffered from an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations.”
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The incident is under investigation, the Pentagon said.
Butler, who was assigned to the 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Camp Williams, Utah, had been participating in the the U.S. counterterrorism mission, known as Freedom’s Sentinel. That mission is separate from the war between the Taliban and the Afghan government, which is under the umbrella of Operation Resolute Support.
On Wednesday, U.S. Forces Afghanistan announced that one U.S. service member was killed and others were injured Wednesday while fighting the Islamic State in Afghanistan, but didn’t identify the troops.
It was the eleventh U.S. military death in Afghanistan this year, compared to 14 total last year, according to the tracking website iCasualties.org. While its unclear whether Butler was that particular trooper who was killed, iCasualties.org has not yet added to that death toll count as of press time.
