SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The Latest on a Utah National Guard soldier killed in Afghanistan (all times local):
12:15 a.m.
The family of a Utah National Guard soldier killed in eastern Afghanistan says he was a Green Beret who died after entering a booby-trapped building that exploded.
Father Randy Butler said in a statement Thursday that 27-year-old son Aaron Butler was killed and the other 11 members of his team were wounded in the battle with Islamic State militants.
Randy Butler says his son was a champion high school wrestler in the southern Utah town of Monticello who always dreamed of a military career.
His family says he served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ghana. He later graduated from the U.S. Army Special Forces qualification course with honors in 2016.
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6 a.m.
The U.S. military says an American soldier was killed and several others wounded in a battle with Islamic State militants in eastern Afghanistan.
The military said in a statement that several Afghan forces were also wounded in the fighting on Wednesday in the Achin district of the Nangarhar province, a militant stronghold. It did not specify how many forces were wounded.
Islamic State militants have gained a foothold in recent years in Afghanistan, where they have battled U.S.-backed government forces as well as the more established Taliban.
The IS affiliate largely consists of disgruntled former Taliban insurgents, and has clashed with the larger group over leadership and ideology.
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