NATO: US service member killed in combat in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON – NATO says a U.S. service member has been killed in combat in Afghanistan.

A statement from the NATO Resolute Support mission says the death occurred on Thursday, but provides no other details.

The service member’s identity was being withheld until family could be notified.

Two U.S. Army Green Berets were killed in combat last week, among more than 2,400 U.S. military deaths in Afghanistan since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 to topple the Taliban, whose government had harbored al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

Now, the U.S. and Taliban are in negotiations on an end to nearly 18 years of fighting.

The U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan formally ended in 2014, but air and other support continue to local forces fighting the Taliban and an affiliate of the Islamic State group.