KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – The Latest on the Taliban attack on U.S. service members in Afghanistan (all times local):
7:15 a.m. Wednesday
The Pentagon has released the identities of three Marines killed in a roadside bombing of an American convoy in Afghanistan on Monday.
They are Cpl. Robert A. Hendriks, 25, of Locust Valley, New York; Sgt. Benjamin S. Hines, 31, of York, Pennsylvania; and Staff Sgt. Christopher K.A. Slutman, 43, of Newark, Delaware.
They were assigned to the 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division of the Marine Corps Reserve, based in Fort Devens, Massachusetts.
The U.S. and NATO Resolute Support mission says the bomb hit the convoy near Bagram Airfield, the main U.S. base in Afghanistan. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.
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6:50 p.m.
U.S. forces in Afghanistan have revised their death toll from a Taliban attack the day before near the main American base in the country and now say that three U.S. Marines were killed but not a contractor who was initially reported among the fatalities.
The U.S. and NATO Resolute Support mission issued a statement on Tuesday “to clarify initial reporting.”
It says a roadside bomb attack during a convoy near the Bagram Airfield killed three American service members and that “the contractor who was reported as killed, is alive.”
The statement says “the contractor, an Afghan citizen, was initially treated along with other injured civilians, later identified as a contractor and treated at Bagram Airfield.”
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9:30 a.m.
A Taliban attack has killed three American service members and a U.S. contractor when their convoy was hit by a roadside bombing on Monday near the main U.S. base in Afghanistan.
The U.S. and NATO Resolute Support mission said the four Americans were killed near the Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, while three others were wounded in the explosion. The base in Bagram district is located in northern Parwan province and serves as the main U.S. air facility in the country.
The wounded were evacuated and are receiving medical care, the statement said. It added that in accordance with U.S. Department of Defense policy, the names of service members killed in action were being withheld until after the notification of next of kin.