The Pentagon on Friday identified the two American soldiers killed after they came under fire in northern Afghanistan.
Capt. Andrew Byers, 30, of Rolesville, N.C., and Sgt. 1st Class Ryan Gloyer, 34, of Greenville, Pa., died Thursday of wounds sustained while fighting insurgents in Kunduz.
Byers and Gloyer were assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), based in Fort Carson, Colo.
They were on a mission with the Afghan military to clear a Taliban position and disrupt the group’s operations in the Kunduz district when the incident happened, the Pentagon said in a statement.
U.S. troops are not engaged in direct combat in Afghanistan, but advisers accompany Afghan special forces troops on some missions.
The joint raid in Kunduz also involved coalition airstrikes that reportedly killed 26 civilians and three Afghan troops, the Associated Press reported.
The situation in Kunduz has remained tense since the region was briefly captured by the Taliban late last year. It was attacked again by Taliban fighters in October.
