A U.S. soldier died during an attack in Afghanistan on Monday, according to the Defense Department.
Pfc. Hansen B. Kirkpatrick, 19, of Wasilla, Alaska, was killed by indirect fire in Helmand province while on a mission with Afghan security forces. He as part of the U.S. advise-assist and counterterrorism operations in the country.
“There’s no indication that this was friendly fire,” said Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.
Kirkpatrick appeared to be the first combat fatality of the counterterror mission since June 10, when three 101st Airborne Division soldiers were killed by an insider attack in Nangarhar province. The Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack.
The indirect attack that killed Kirkpatrick could have involved mortars or gun fire, Davis said. Additional details were not immediately available.
U.S. forces have been fighting a resurgent Taliban across Afghanistan, including Helmand where fighting was intense during the earlier American ground war, and an emergent Islamic State force in Nangarhar.
