One U.S. soldier killed, several wounded in Afghan suicide attack

An American solider was killed and several more were wounded by a suicide bomber near the Afghan capital of Kabul Thursday, marking the third American killed in action in the country in the last two days.

The attack took place during a joint operation with the Afghan military in the Qarabagh district of Kabul province, located in the central part of the country. Command officials at the U.S. and NATO military adviser mission in Afghanistan, dubbed Resolute Support, confirmed the American casualty in a statement released Thursday.

U.S. military officials declined to provide the name or unit of those wounded or killed in the attack, which included the unit’s Afghan interpreter. All five Americans wounded in the attack are in stable condition and are being treated at Bagram Airfield, officials say.

Thursday’s attack comes a day after the Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack on a NATO convoy in the country’s volatile Kandahar province. That attack claimed the lives of two U.S. service members, while local reports also claimed three coalition troops were also wounded in the strike.

These casualties come amid ongoing gridlock at the White House over what Washington’s next steps will be in Afghanistan, as the war enters it’s 17th year. Administration officials had pushed President Trump to seek a full withdrawal from the country, effectively ending the U.S. mission there. But Mr. Trump has since taken that option off the table, as national security officials continue to press for a 3,900-troop increase for the U.S.-led effort in the country.

But Mr. Trump is still reportedly considering firing Gen. John Nicholson, the top American commander in Afghanistan, and nominating a new war chief for Afghanistan, NBC News reported Wednesday.