US Soldiers Killed in Eastern Afghanistan After Afghan Soldier Opens Fire

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A statement from the USA military said merely that the military was "aware of an incident in eastern Afghanistan".

Two U.S. soldiers were killed in the Achin district in late April by possible friendly fire after an intense raid by Army Rangers on ISIS's Afghan affiliate's headquarters.

Two U.S. troops were killed and two others were wounded in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, allegedly at the hands of an Afghan soldier who opened fired on them, an official there told The Associated Press.

Achin has been the scene of worsening violence in recent months as USA special forces and elite Afghan commandos intensify their efforts against ISIS loyalists in the region, a group known as ISIS Khorasan or ISIS-K.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the deaths, saying the attack was carried out by an infiltrator. The incident remains under investigation, officials said. They say a number of militants were also killed in the strike.

Excluding these three soldiers, four U.S. troops have already died in Afghanistan in 2017, with three of them being combat casualties.

Also Known as the "green-on-blue" attack, the insider attack, where an Afghan government solider or police fires on North Atlantic Treaty Organisation coalition forces, is one of the major problems facing coalition forces there.

The media reports that the incident occurred as USA and Afghan forces returned from a joint operation, the Afghan source said.

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The incident in Helmand, like the one in Nangarhar, involved USA forces working in partnership with Afghan commandos, but there was no indication that the incidents were connected.

A spokesman for the provincial governor in Nangarhar province, Attahullah Khogyani, said the attack took place in the Achin district.

Saturday's attack came just hours after a USA air strike killed and wounded at least six Afghan policemen in southern Helmand province, in the latest "friendly fire" incident.

In late April, however, two USA service members were killed and another wounded while conducting a joint raid in the Achin District, according to a Pentagon spokesman.

Smoke rises from the site of a suicide attack after a blast in Kabul, Afghanistan June 3. A US Army Special Forces soldier was killed fighting the terror group there in early April.

In April, the U.S. military dropped its largest non-nuclear bomb ever used in combat on a complex of caves in Achin used by ISIS fighters.

The deadly shooting comes as the Trump administration weighs deeper involvement in the country after 16 years of war.

The US Defense Department did not immediately confirm the attack by the Afghan soldier, but confirmed the deaths of the three American troops.

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