US soldier killed while fighting Taliban in Afghanistan

A US soldier has become the first American killed in Afghanistan in 2016 while two more were wounded in an operation in Helmand province, where Afghan troops are battling Taliban insurgents, US and NATO officials said.

The service member who was killed came under fire as part of a train-and-assist mission in Marjah, located in Helmand Province, Pentagon Spokesman Peter Cook said.

The troops had come under fire while conducting a mission Tuesday with Afghan special operations counterparts in Marjah, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said.

“This is an ongoing situation, there is still a fight going on in the immediate surroundings,” Cook said.

The United States and NATO pulled all combat forces from Helmand in the spring of 2014, and combat operations by the coalition throughout Afghanistan were scheduled to end by Dec. 31 that year. American forces in Afghanistan were to remain in a training and advising role, for the most part.

Afghan forces are currently fighting to repel Taliban militants who in recent weeks have seized large swathes of the key opium-rich district of Sangin in the southern province of Helmand, a traditional stronghold of the insurgents.