Two U.S. service members killed, one hurt fighting Islamic State in Afghanistan, Pentagon says

Reporting from Washington —  The Pentagon said two American troops were killed and a third wounded Wednesday night during a raid against Islamic State’s affiliate in eastern Afghanistan, near the site where an 11-ton U.S. bomb was dropped earlier this month.

The service members were conducting an operation alongside Afghan forces in Nangarhar province, where a U.S.-backed offensive is underway against Islamic State in Khorasan, known as ISIS-K. Khorasan is the historic name for a region that encompassed parts of modern-day Afghanistan.

“The fight against ISIS-K is important for the world, but sadly, it is not without sacrifice,” said Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr., commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. “On behalf of all U.S. forces and our coalition partners, I offer our deepest sympathies to the families, friends, and fellow service members of our fallen comrades.”

The deaths occurred as U.S. and Afghan forces were conducting a raid against a prison where Islamic State kept civilians as prisoners, said Attaullah Khogyani, a representative of the Nangahar governor’s office.

There now have been three U.S. service members killed fighting Islamic State in Afghanistan in 2017 — all in Nangarhar. That is the province where, on April 13, the U.S. military dropped the most powerful conventional bomb in its arsenal on a cave-and-tunnel complex that it said was used by Islamic State fighters.

The Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb — nicknamed the “mother of all bombs” and the largest non-nuclear weapon ever used in combat — targeted subterranean passages the militants used for weeks to evade an ongoing operation by U.S. and Afghan forces, officials said.

Afghan officials have said that 94 militants were killed in the bombing and another 40 killed in Wednesday night’s operation.The U.S. military has refused to comment on battle casualties suffered by Islamic State, which is estimated to have about 700 fighters in Afghanistan.

Army Staff Sgt. Mark R. De Alencar, a 37-year-old Green Beret from Maryland, became the first American service member killed in combat this year in Afghanistan on April 8 after coming under fire in Nangarhar’s Achin district.

There have been 1,835 American troops killed in action since U.S.-led invasion in late 2001.

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UPDATES:

9:55 a.m.: This article was updated throughout with details and background.

This article was originally published at 7:45 a.m..