The service members were conducting an operation alongside Afghan forces in Nangarhar province, where a U.S.-backed offensive is underway against Islamic State in Khorasan, known as ISIS-K. Khorasan is the historic name for a region that encompassed parts of modern-day Afghanistan. "The fight against ISIS-K is important for the world, but sadly, it is not without sacrifice,” said Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr., commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. There now have been three U.S. service members killed fighting Islamic State in Afghanistan in 2017 — all in Nangarhar. That is the province where, on April 13, the U.S. military dropped the most powerful conventional bomb in its arsenal on a cave-and-tunnel complex that it said was used by Islamic State fighters. Afghan officials have said that 94 militants were killed in the bombing and another 40 killed in Wednesday night's operation.The U.S. military has refused to comment on battle casualties suffered by Islamic State, which is estimated to have about 700 fighters in Afghanistan.

Source: Los Angeles Times April 27, 2017 14:50 UTC