The Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack yesterday on US troops that killed one US soldier and wounded several more.
The killing is likely to have consequences for ongoing talks between the US and the Taliban.
US President Donald Trump in September declared negotiations “dead” after the Taliban killed a US soldier in a Kabul bombing.
Negotiations have since restarted in Doha, but were earlier this month put on a “pause” following yet another bombing, this time at the Bagram air base north of Kabul.
INJURED
In a WhatsApp message, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said insurgents “blew up an American vehicle in Char Dara district of Kunduz” overnight Sunday-Monday.
He said “several” other US and Afghan forces were also wounded.
US Forces-Afghanistan said that one US service member was “killed in action” yesterday.
A US official said the service member had been inspecting a weapons cache when it exploded.
“This was not the result of an attack as the enemy claims,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Kunduz Province is in northern Afghanistan and has been the site of repeated insurgent attacks and attempts to seize Kunduz city itself.
Depending on how one qualifies a combat-related death, about 20 US troops have been killed in action in Afghanistan this year following yesterday’s announcement.
That makes this year the deadliest for US forces since combat operations officially finished at the end of 2014, and highlights the woeful security situation that persists across much of Afghanistan.
About 2,400 US troops have been killed in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion in October 2001.
The Pentagon currently has 12,000 to 13,000 troops in Afghanistan.
Trump has said he wants to cut that number to about 8,600 or lower, as he seeks to show voters he is making good on a campaign pledge to end the US’ longest war.
Yesterday’s attack comes one day after officials announced preliminary results in Afghanistan’s presidential elections that put Afghani President Ashraf Ghani on track to secure a second term.
The Taliban have long viewed Ghani as a US stooge and have refused to negotiate with him.
FUNERAL BLAST
Also yesterday, a bomb explosion at a funeral ceremony in Laghman Province east of Kabul killed three civilians and wounded nine others, Afghan Ministry of the Interior spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said.
He blamed the Taliban for the blast that hit the crowd of mourners at a local tribal leader’s funeral.
The Taliban was not immediately available to comment.
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