US military announces loss of 2 service members

KABUL, the US military said on Wednesday.

In a brief statement, which did not give details of the deaths, the US military said the soldiers were killed today.

Identities of the fallen soldiers would not be released until their families had been notified, the statement added.

The killings came hours after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met President Ashraf Ghani on the ongoing peace talks with the Taliban and the security situation in the country.

Pompeo’s unannounced visit to Afghanistan, lasting about seven hours, comes days before the seventh round of talks between Taliban and the US in Doha.

Around 20,000 foreign troops, most of them American, are currently stationed in Afghanistan as part of the NATO mission to train, assist and advise Afghan forces.

pr/mud