Coalition forces have issued a statement that a U.S. soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in Helmand province, Afghanistan, which injured another U.S. soldier and six Afghan soldiers.
The Taliban has been making rapid advances territory-wise with Helmand province being occupied by approximately 80 percent of insurgents, this increased threat prompted an increase of around 100 U.S. troops to be deployed to support the Afghan security forces who are struggling against in Taliban insurgency in the region.
U.S. troops’ primary mission is to assist the Afghan forces in retaking Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province that was recently lost to the Taliban in heavy fighting over the last few weeks.
Close to 10,000 U.S. troops are currently operating in Afghanistan in either a NATO training capacity or mission assistance for U.S. counter-terrorism operations against militant groups.
The Taliban have made rapid territorial gains in the Helmand province primarily due to the agreement it has with Islamic State not to attack each other in order to keep the focus on fighting Afghan troops. The Taliban’s advances have, in essence, overwhelmed Afghan troops to the point that several bases and checkpoints have been abandoned; a weakness that the Taliban is fully exploiting.
As of this publishing, the names of the U.S. soldier who was killed and the U.S. soldier who was injured are not yet known.
[revad2]
