KABUL, Afghanistan — Two U.S. service members were killed Wednesday in Afghanistan, according to a statement from Resolute Support headquarters.
Officials did not identify those killed, in accordance with the Department of Defense policy preventing the release of names of service members killed in action until 24 hours after notification of next of kin is complete.
A Resolute Support spokeswoman referred questions about the incident to U.S. Special Operations Command, which could not immediately be reached for comment.
There now have been nine U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan in 2019, and 2,426 fatalities since the start of combat operations there in October 2001, according to iCasualties.org.
The deaths come days after a U.S. Navy veteran died in Afghanistan last week from a mortar shell, according to NJ.com.
Kevin Yali, 27, first enlisted in the Navy in 2012 and served four deployments. He was in Afghanistan as an inactive reservist providing private security to American troops when he died on June 19 — less than three weeks after he first arrived in Afghanistan.
The Midland Park, New Jersey native is survived by his parents and his brothers, Oscar Yali and Victor Patrocino. Those close to him described him as a kind and considerate person.
"He used to see homeless guys sitting on the sidewalk, and he says, 'Hold on, I'm going to go to Burger King,'" Yali’s mother Daisy said, according to ABC-affiliate WABC. "And he went and he bought meals."
Howard Altman is an award-winning editor and reporter who was previously the military reporter for the Tampa Bay Times and before that the Tampa Tribune, where he covered USCENTCOM, USSOCOM and SOF writ large among many other topics.
