WASHINGTON, July 6 (Xinhua) -- A 19-year-old U.S. soldier was killed when he was taking part in counter-terror operations in south Afghanistan's Helmand Province, the U.S. Department of Defense said Wednesday.
Pfc. Hansen B. Kirkpatrick, who came from Wasilla, Alaska, died July 3, from wounds received during an indirect fire attack in Helmand, the Defense Department said in a statement. The incident is under investigation.
According to the statement, Kirkpatrick had been stationed in Fort Bliss, Texas.
Two other soldier were also injured in the Monday attack, the U.S. Armed Forces-Afghanistan said in another statement Wednesday. But their injuries are "not considered life-threatening" and they were being treated in a coalition hospital.
Kirkpatrick is the eighth U.S. soldier killed in Afghanistan in 2017, according to figures provided by icasualties.org, a website that keeps records of combat deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Two U.S. soldiers were killed in a joint raid in Nangarhar Province late April, followed by deaths of three others early June in an "inside attack" by an Afghan soldier during a joint U.S.-Afghan military operation also in Nangarhar Province.
The war in Afghanistan has entered its 16th year. But the United States is still considering sending thousands of additional troops to the war-torn country.
