Three Americans were killed in a suicide bombing attack in Afghanistan Monday, including a New York City firefighter from the Bronx.
The soldier, yet unnamed according to WABC, was a firefighter for Engine 46 Ladder 27 in Bronx, New York. Two other U.S. servicemen died in the blast, Defense Department officials said.
The incident occurred when an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded in a vehicle near Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul. Taliban forces claimed responsibility for the deadly attack, which also wounded three additional U.S. servicemen and an Afghan contractor, who are receiving medical treatment, reported USA Today.
“My heartfelt prayers to the families of the Americans killed near Bagram. I condemn this disgusting terrorist act,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said viaTwitter. “U.S. service members have sacrificed their lives in Afghanistan to keep us safe and no cowardly act of terror will impede our efforts to achieve peace.”
The tragedy raises the number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan this year to seven. U.S. officials have been in peace negotiations with the Taliban recently to end the war in Afghanistan, which has killed more than 2,400 U.S. troops since 2001. The U.S. had more than 100,000 troops in the region between 2010 and 2011.
The primary weapon responsible for troop deaths in Afghanistan has been IEDs, which are essentially homemade bombs.
This is not the first death of an FDNY firefighter in the Middle East. Two FDNY firefighters died after their helicopter crashed in Iraq in 2018.
Officials are withholding the names of those killed until families are notified.
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