Washington : The Pentagon on Wednesday has identified the three members of US service who were killed in Afghanistan earlier this week.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Dylan J. Elchin, Army Capt. Andrew Patrick Ross and Army Sgt. 1st Class Eric Michael Emond were killed on Tuesday when their vehicle was known to be struck by an improvised explosive device close to the city of Ghazni, Afghanistan.
The Taliban has taken responsibility for the attack — the deadliest against the members of US service in Afghanistan since the year 2017 — calling the tank as “completely destroyed.”
The incident is yet under investigation, as per a news release from the Defense Department on Wednesday.
Emond and Ross were assigned to 3rd Special Forces Group, 1st Battalion respectively at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Elchin was assigned to the 26th Special Tactics Squadron located at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico.
In the past few weeks, the Taliban have been reviving near Ghazni, which is prompting the US to send additional troops to the region in order to help Afghan forces. US Gen. Scott Miller, who is the head of US as well as NATO forces in Afghanistan, was photographed earlier in November while he was carrying a fully loaded M4 carbine assault rifle during his visit to the Ghazni area.
A report which was released by the ombudsman of the US government of the war found insurgent influence or control within Afghanistan has increased to 12.5% of districts from just 7%.
Almost one-third of Afghanistan is known to be a “contested” area, as per the report.
