Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
January 6, 2016
A U.S. military official says two wounded U.S. soldiers and the body of a third have been evacuated from a battlefield in the southern Afghan province of Helmand.
“All casualties have been evacuated” following fighting the day before near the city of Marjah, U.S. Army Colonel Mike Lawhorn said on January 6.
The soldier killed in the Marjah battle became the first American killed in Afghanistan in 2016.
The evacuation was delayed on January 5 when one helicopter took fire and was unable to land, and another was unable to take off.
Lawhorn said U.S. Special Forces were advising their Afghan counterparts during the battle.
Helmand is one of several fronts where the Taliban has advanced in the past year, taking control of district centers.
The U.S. and NATO formally concluded their combat mission in Afghanistan in 2014.
But U.S. troops are still authorized to carry out counterterrorism raids and combat missions to defend themselves.
Based on reporting by AP and AFP