It appeared to be the first
reported instance of U.S. troops being wounded in fighting against the Islamic
State in Afghanistan. U.S. military spokesmen in Kabul said they were
researching the question of whether there have been previous casualties in
combat with IS, which is present mainly in the country's eastern regions. IS
bases in the eastern province of Nangarhar, which borders Pakistan, are
currently being targeted by an Afghan military offensive, backed by U.S.
troops.
The Afghan offensive began
on Saturday, hours after the IS group claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb
attack in the capital Kabul that killed around 80 people.
Gen. John Nicholson, the
top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, said the five wounded
Americans were hit by small arms fire or shrapnel during a combat operation
conducted with Afghan special operations forces to clear areas once controlled
by the Islamic State in Nangarhar.
He did not say exactly when
the injuries happened. The Pentagon later issued what it called a
clarification, saying one of the five was wounded on Sunday and the other four
on Monday.
"There was not one
incident or specific firefight, but these service members were wounded over the
course of the clearing operations General Nicholson described," a Pentagon
spokesman, Adam Stump, said in a statement. "As General Nicholson
indicated, we're not able to discuss further specifics at this point of the
counterterrorism operation."
Speaking to reporters at
the Pentagon from his headquarters in Kabul, Nicholson said none of the wounds
are life-threatening. Three of the soldiers have been evacuated to a U.S.
military hospital in Germany, he said. "They're in good spirits," Nicholson
said. "They've talked to their families. We expect a full recovery."
The other two wounded have
been returned to duty in Afghanistan, he said.
Nicholson said the
casualties happened during a counterterrorism operation in which Afghan forces
have recaptured ground previously held by the Islamic State, following U.S.
airstrikes.
Thus far, operations have
been successful, Nicholson said.
"We have helped the
Afghan security forces to reclaim significant portions of the territory that
was previously controlled by Daesh," he said, using an alternative acronym
for the Islamic militant group. "We have killed many Daesh commanders and
soldiers, destroyed key infrastructure capabilities, logistical nodes, and
Daesh fighters are retreating south into the mountains of southern Nangarhar as
we speak."
He said the number of IS
fighters in Afghanistan has declined from an estimated 3,000 at the start of
this year to between 1,000 and 1,500. The majority of those in Nangarhar are
former members of a Pakistan Taliban group known as TTP, he said, adding that
they were largely forced out of Pakistan by a government offensive and joined
IS earlier this year.
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