WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Pentagon on Tuesday identified the two US service members killed in Afghanistan earlier this week.
Pfc. Brandon Jay Kreischer, 20, of Stryker, Ohio, and Spc. Michael Isaiah Nance, 24, of Chicago died Monday from combat-related wounds, the Department of Defense said in a news release.
Kandahar police told CNN on Monday that an Afghan soldier had opened fire on the service members. A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousof Ahmadi, also confirmed the incident in a media message, saying the Afghan soldier had been wounded in the exchange of fire.
The American service members were the fourth and fifth to be killed in Afghanistan in a little over a month. The incident is under investigation, the Pentagon said.
In remarks at the Economic Club of Washington, DC, on Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said President Donald Trump wants to reduce American troop levels in Afghanistan before the 2020 election.