US Green Beret service member killed in Afghanistan

(Sept. 17)A US Green Beret service member has been killed in action in Afghanistan. The death was announced in a release by NATO's Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan.

Identity of the deceased not at first released

Although an official confirmed the soldier was a Green Beret, the official did not specify the unit to which he was attached. Another official said that there were no indications that the death was any type of incident with any member of Afghan forces firing on him.

The soldier could not be identified until his family had first been notified for 24 hours. However, he is identified later on the appended video.

Casualties this year

So far this year there have been 16 US troops killed in Afghanistan according to Defense Department figures. More than 80 US personnel have been wounded in combat. 2019 has been the deadliest for the US since operations were scaled down in 2015.

Peace talks have broken off after agreement reached in principle

The Taliban carried out attacks just as an agreement was reached in principle between the Taliban and the US. Both sides had been attacking each other during the talks but the talks still had been progressing well. However, after one of the attacks Trump angrily rejected the talks when one US soldier was among the casualties.

The last US soldier killed before the Green Beret was Sargent 1st class Elis Ortiz 34 who died when a vehicle-borne iED exploded near his vehicle in Kabul.

On Monday Sept. 9 Trump called off any talks: "President Trump appeared to pull the plug Monday on the possibility of peace with the Taliban, declaring talks with the militant group “dead” and leaving Afghan leaders in the dark on just what happens next. Speaking on the White House lawn before departing for a political rally in North Carolina, Trump said last week’s Taliban-claimed bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, drove him to cancel a covert meeting at the presidential Camp David retreat in Maryland that was planned for Sunday."

Current situation

At present there are about 14,000 US service members in Afghanistan with many additional international allied troops. Their role is to advise and assist Afghan forces and to fight terrorists such as ISIS and Al Qaeda.

Prior to the peace talks, President Trump had been considering a reduction in US troop levels perhaps down to 8,600. A reduction was planned in the first phase of the agreement in principle as well. Now it is not clear what reduction if any there will be. During his campaign for the presidency Trump promised to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.

After repeating that as far as he was concerned the peace talks with the Taiban are dead, Trump added that US troops have hit the Taliban "harder in the last four days than they've been hit in ten years".

Previously published in the Digital Journal