3 US soldiers killed, 1 wounded in Afghanistan

Claiming responsibility, Taliban says attack carried out by loyalist who infiltrated Afghan Army ‘just to attack foreign forces’

By AP 11 June 2017, 1:21 am

Edit

In this photograph taken on April 11, 2017, smoke rises after an air strike by US aircraft on positions during an ongoing an operation against Islamic State (IS) in the Achin district of Afghanistan's Nangarhar province. (AFP PHOTO / NOORULLAH SHIRZADA)

KABUL, Afghanistan — Three US soldiers were killed and another was wounded Saturday in eastern Afghanistan, the Pentagon said.

An Afghan official said the deaths and injury stem from an attack by an Afghan soldier, who also died.

In a statement from Washington, the Pentagon didn’t provide details about what led to the deaths of the US soldiers. It said the incident was under investigation.

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

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says in a statement that a Taliban loyalist had infiltrated the Afghan army “just to attack foreign forces.”

In March, an Afghan soldier was killed after he opened fire on foreign forces at a base in Helmand province, wounding three US soldiers.

White House spokesman Raj Shah told reporters traveling with the President Donald Trump in New Jersey that Trump was “following the emerging situation in Afghanistan.”