The Pentagon has identified two U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan while involved in combat operations Friday in Kunduz Province.
The men were identified Saturday as 29-year-old U.S. Army Specialist Joseph P. Collette of Lancaster, Ohio, and 33-year-old Sergeant 1st Class Will D. Lindsay of Cortez, Colorado. Collette was assigned to the 242nd Ordnance Battalion, 71st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group, and Lindsay was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne). Both were based at Fort Carson, Colorado. The fatalities bring to four the number of U.S. soldiers killed so far this year in Afghanistan. The deaths underscore the difficulties in bringing peace to the war-ravaged country. There are about 14,000 U.S. forces in Afghanistan, supporting Afghan forces as they struggle with a resurgent Taliban who now hold sway over almost half the country and also the Islamic State affiliate, which has expanded its footprint in Afghanistan even as its self-proclaimed "caliphate" has crumbled in Syria and Iraq.
