In all, nine American soldiers were killed in 2016, four of them Special Operations forces in combat roles. But Afghan officials were skeptical of a claim by the Taliban that the commando had infiltrated the unit intending to carry out the attack. “We need to investigate what really happened here.”The attacker was killed by the Americans, who returned fire, Afghan officials said. Afghan officials confirmed that the latest deaths took place in the midst of an operation against the Islamic State, despite the Taliban’s claim of responsibility. While the Islamic State appears to have ousted the Taliban from much of Achin District, there have been only scattered reports of Islamic State activity in other parts of the country, with the Taliban still the dominant insurgent force nationally.

Source: New York Times June 11, 2017 15:21 UTC