Phillip Walter Wellman

A U.S. Special Operations soldier returns fire while conducting Afghan-led offensive operations against the Taliban in Logar province, Afghanistan, on July 28, 2018. Logar borders Ghazni province, whose capital was stormed by the Taliban on Aug. 10, 2018, part of a string of attacks in the run-up to an expected cease-fire.<br>

30 Afghan soldiers killed in latest battlefield reversal

By Phillip Walter Wellman

A U.S. airstrike supporting in eastern Logar province killed a number of Afghan police officers on Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2018, officials claimed.<br>Bev Schilling/Stars and Stripes

US airstrike mistakenly kills Afghan security forces, local officials say

A U.S. airstrike on Tuesday in eastern Logar province mistakenly hit friendly forces and killed several Afghan police officers, local officials said.

Raider soldiers from 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division and soldiers from the Czech Army conduct a patrol in Eastern Afghanistan on July 25, 2018. Three Czech soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan on Sunday, Aug. 8, 2015.

(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Lerone Simmons)<br>Lerone Simmons/U.S. Army

3 Czech troops killed in Afghanistan attack

Three Czech soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday in an attack that also injured one American and two Afghan troops, officials said.

Coalition airstrikes hit ISIS fighters in Afghanistan's Nangarhar and Jawzjan provinces on Feb. 6, 2018. More than 150 ISIS fighters surrendered to the Afghan government on Tuesday, July 31, 2018, after their Taliban enemies recently launched an offensive against them.<br>Jacob Krone/U.S. Army

ISIS flees Taliban onslaught, surrenders to Afghan government forces

The allied coalition’s battle against the Islamic State in Afghanistan received a boost from another enemy Wednesday, when Taliban guerrillas drove ISIS fighters out of northern Jawzjan province.

Street art at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan on Nov. 30, 2016. A group of Georgian soldiers is suspected of stealing thousands of dollars worth of merchandise from an exchange store recently at Bagram, according to preliminary investigation results, military officials said.<br>

Georgian soldiers accused of stealing from Bagram base store

A group of Georgian soldiers is suspected of stealing about $3,600 worth of merchandise from a shop at Bagram Air Field, military officials said Tuesday.

Afghan soldiers move as a squad during training at Camp Shorabak in June, 2018. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, says the country's forces are preventing the Taliban from capturing more territory, but are finding it difficult to extend their own area of control.<br>Luke Hoogendam/U.S. Marine Corps photo

Afghan forces struggling to reclaim lost territory, watchdog says

Recent figures provided by U.S. Forces-Afghanistan indicate the number of people living under government and insurgent control remained the same over the last quarter — despite an intense aerial campaign by U.S. and Afghan forces.

Boys walk in Khak-e-Jabar district, Kabul province on Wednesday, July 18, 2018. The Taliban are said to have taken control of dozens of villages in the district since a U.S.-backed cease-fire by the Afghan government last month.<br>Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes

Taliban gaining upper hand in Afghan district after government cease-fire

A steady stream of locals have been lodging complaints about the tangible effects of a U.S.-backed cease-fire by the Afghan government. They fear another truce could help the Taliban take full control of the district.

An airman salutes his fallen comrades on Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2015, at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, during a memorial service for six airmen killed in a suicide bombing two days earlier. One of those killed was Staff Sgt. Peter Taub. A post office in Wyncote, Pa., was renamed for Taub on Monday.

Stars and Stripes<br>Stars and Stripes

Pennsylvania post office is renamed for airman killed in Afghanistan

Air Force Staff Sgt. Peter Taub, who grew up near the post office in Wyncote, Pa., was killed in a suicide attack while on patrol near Bagram Air Field.

Two coalition airstrikes eliminated ISIS-K fighters and facilities in the Nangarhar and Jowzjan provinces of Afghanistan, Feb. 6, 2018. In this photo, an airstrike destroys an ISIS-K fighting position during Afghan Commando offensive operations in Mohmand Valley, Nangarhar province, on Feb. 4.<br>Jacob Krone/U.S. Army

US munition drops on Afghanistan on pace to set record this year

U.S. Air Force data released Friday showed that aircraft released 2,911 bombs and missiles over Afghanistan during the first half of 2018 — a higher number for that period than during the surge of 2010, when about 100,000 American troops were in the country.

Abdul Basir poses for a photo before a January 2018 attack by the Taliban in Kabul took his life. He was 21 at the time of his death.
<br>Photo provided by the family

Afghan civilian deaths up by 1 percent this year

As Abdul-Basir visited the Ministry of Interior, an ambulance packed with explosives killed him and about 100 other people. The former refugee's death is among the toll of civilians killed in the first half of 2018, which is more than any other six-month period since recording began 10 years ago.

Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Andrew Celiz<br>75th Ranger Regiment/Facebook

Pentagon IDs second US soldier killed in Afghanistan within a week

Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Andrew Celiz, 32, from Summerville, S.C., was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, at Hunter Army Airfield, Ga. He died of a wound suffered while fighting in support of a medevac landing zone in eastern Paktia province.

Members of the British Royal Air Force prepare to load a Puma HC Mk2 medium support helicopter on board a Royal Air Force C-17 Globemaster III at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, May 20, 2018. British Prime Minister Theresa May announced on Wednesday, July 11, 2018, that the U.K. would nearly double the number of troops it deploys to Afghanistan.<br>Jordan Belser/Resolute Support

UK to nearly double troops in Afghanistan after Trump request

British Prime Minister Theresa May said Tuesday that 440 more British servicemembers would deploy to the country, bringing the U.K.’s total contribution to about 1,100 troops.

Army Cpl. Joseph Maciel, from South Gate, Calif., was identified as the soldier killed in what NATO's Resolute Support said was an apparent insider attack in Afghanistan.<br>U.S. Army photo

Soldier killed in suspected insider attack in Afghanistan identified

Army Cpl. Joseph Maciel has been identified by the Pentagon as the soldier killed Saturday in an apparent insider attack in southern Afghanistan.

Stephenie Jonas-Sullivan, left, a U.S. citizen who advises the Afghan Interior Ministry on gender issues, celebrates Independence Day with Gen. John Nicholson, the U.S.'s top commander in Afghanistan, at NATO's Resolute Support headquarters on Wednesday, July 4, 2018. <br>Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes

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US troops celebrate Independence Day in Kabul

American flags could be seen in all corners of NATO’s Resolute Support headquarter in Kabul on Wednesday as U.S. servicemembers celebrated Independence Day.

A screengrab of video taken of U.S. and Afghanistan airstrikes on Nov. 19, 2017, targeting alleged narcotics laboratories in Helmand province, a key source of revenue for the Taliban.<br>

US strikes more than 20 Taliban targets after cease-fire ends

U.S. forces in Afghanistan conducted more than 20 airstrikes against the Taliban on Saturday after an unprecedented unilateral cease-fire ended.

Afghan forces prepare to destroy lab materials and narcotics after they seized about $19 million worth of drugs, equipment, vehicles, weapons and communication gear in Nad Ali district, Helmand province, in 2017. A California man who claimed to have ties to the Taliban was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison on Wednesday on charges related to trafficking Taliban-linked drugs to the United States.<br>Courtesy photo

Man accused of trafficking Taliban drugs in the US is sentenced to 10 years in prison

A California man who claimed to have Taliban ties was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison on Wednesday on charges related to trafficking Taliban-linked drugs to the United States.

Syrian Democratic Forces practice marksmanship before a live-fire exercise near Shaddadi, Syria, May 27, 2018. The U.S.-led international coalition continues to train local forces in Syria to combat ISIS, although the group has lost most of the territory it once held in the region. <br>Timothy Koster/US Army

US-backed Syrian rebels destroy drugs used by ISIS fighters as ‘chemical courage'

Drugs sales have become a significant source of revenue for the group since it lost control of oil wells and refineries across Iraq and Syria, according to the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq, which fight the militants.

Waheba Issa Dais<br>Waukesha County Sheriff's Department

Wisconsin mother charged with helping ISIS plan US attacks

A Wisconsin woman has been accused of trying to teach people how to make explosives and poisons in order to carry out terrorist attacks on U.S. soil in the name of the Islamic State group.

Air Force Maj. Gen. Barre R. Seguin speaks at a ceremony in Kabul on Wednesday, May 2, 2018, after assuming command of the 9th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force-Afghanistan and NATO Air Command-Afghanistan.

<br>Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes

Seguin assumes command of US, NATO air forces in Afghanistan

Seguin took over command of the 9th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force and NATO Air Command from Maj. Gen. James B. Hecker.

A crew chief surveys the area over Jalalabad, Afghanistan December 5, 2017. The helicopter and its crew are part of Task Force Lighthorse, 3rd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, out of Savannah, Georgia supporting Operations Freedom's Sentinel and Resolute Support in Afghanistan. <br>Kellen Stuart/U.S. Army

US servicemember killed in action in Afghanistan

The name of the U.S. servicemember killed is being withheld until 24 hours after the next of kin is notified, in accordance with Defense Department protocol.

Afghan security personnel carry a victim after the second blast in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, April 30, 2018. A coordinated double suicide bombing hit central Kabul on Monday morning.<br>Rahmat Gul/AP

Kabul braces for fighting season as twin bombings near Green Zone kill more than 20

KABUL, Afghanistan — Twin suicide bombings in Kabul on Monday killed more than 20 people, including nine journalists, while a separate attack in southern Kandahar province killed nearly a dozen children and injured eight NATO servicemembers.

Special operators of the Afghan National Mission Brigade conduct day and night platoon live fires during a training exercise at the Kabul Military Training Complex, Kabul, Afghanistan, Feb. 12, 2018.<br>Austin T. Boucher/U.S. Army photo

Report: Afghan force levels shrinking despite billions spent by US

SIGAR said that the U.S. military continues to keep private other key data that would help gauge the progress of the U.S.’s longest war, now in its 17th year.

A U.S. Air Force pararescueman, assigned to the 83rd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron, communicates with an Army Task Force Brawler CH-47F Chinook during a training exercise at an undisclosed location in the the mountains of Afghanistan, March 14, 2018.<br>Gregory Brook/U.S. Air Force

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Air Force pararescuemen join Army aircraft and air crew for one-of-a-kind squadron

The CH-47 is an Army helicopter, but because it suits the mountainous region of northern Afghanistan, it’s being used by the 83rd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron — making it the first-ever joint-personnel rescue squadron comprised of Army aircraft and air crew, and Air Force pararescue specialists.