A U.S. service member was killed in action in Afghanistan on Monday, becoming the 17th American to be killed in combat there this year. The identity of the service member is being withheld pending family notification.
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump said that he canceled secret talks with the Taliban that were to be held at Camp David after the Taliban took credit for an attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, that killed a dozen people, including an American soldier.
The US currently has about 14,000 service members in Afghanistan, alongside NATO troops. The Afghan government has blamed the Taliban for the canceled peace talks, saying the group’s “obstinacy to increase violence against Afghans” is the “main obstacle” to peace negotiations.