AP tally of Afghan war deaths reaches 1,000
American military member killed today unidentified
KABUL, Afghanistan – The U.S. military suffered its 1,000th death of the Afghan war today, according to an Associated Press count, when NATO reported an American service member was killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan.
A NATO statement did not identify the victim’s name or nationality, but U.S. spokesman Col. Wayne Shanks said the service member was American.
The Associated Press bases its tally on Defense Department reports of deaths suffered as a direct result of the Afghan conflict, including personnel assigned to units in Afghanistan, Pakistan or Uzbekistan.
Other news organizations count deaths suffered by service members assigned elsewhere as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, which includes operations in the Philippines, the Horn of Africa and at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The NATO statement gave no details of the bombing today nor did it specify where the attack occurred. U.S., NATO and Afghan forces are gearing up for a major operation in the south in a bid to shore up government control of Kandahar, the biggest city in southern Afghanistan and the Taliban’s former headquarters.
The list of American service members killed in combat in Afghanistan begins with Army Sgt. 1st Class Nathan Ross Chapman, of San Antonio, Texas. The 31-year-old career Special Forces soldier was ambushed on Jan. 4, 2002, after attending a meeting with Afghan leaders in Khost province. He left a wife and two children. The base where a suicide bomber killed seven CIA employees last December bears his name.