Taliban Attack: Group Claims Responsibility For US Serviceman Killed By IED

As peace talks continue between the U.S. and the Taliban, the Sunni Islamic fundamentalist group on Monday claimed responsibility for an IED attack in Afghanistan that resulted in the death of a U.S. service member.

The attack occurred while U.S. and Afghan forces were conducting a raid in the province of Kunduz, specifically the Chardara district. The name of the service member has not yet been released, as the military is waiting until their family is notified.

Peace talks with the Taliban have been ongoing since President Trump announced they had been restarted last month. Earlier rounds of peace talks broke down in September after a Taliban attack in Kabul killed 12 people, including an American soldier. The group is said to control or exert influence over more than half of Afghanistan.

According to a tweet from the Taliban, another U.S. service member and an Afghan soldier were also seriously wounded in the attack. The group also claimed to be in possession of the dead soldier’s identity card.

The U.S. currently has 12,000-13,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan as part of a NATO-sponsored initiative to train local forces. An estimated 20 Americans service members have been killed in combat in the country so far in 2019.