KABUL: A roadside bomb killed an American soldier on Tuesday near the capital of Afghanistan’s volatile Hel­mand province, following the first major US deployment to the southern city since foreign forces withdrew in 2014.

The blast, which occurred during an anti-Taliban operation, left another American and six Afghan soldiers wounded, the US-led Nato coalition said.

The casualties come just a day after Nato announced the deployment of around 100 US troops to Lashkar Gah to help head off a potential Taliban takeover of Helmand’s capital as fighting intensifies.

“One US service member died as a result of wounds sustained during operations near Lashkar Gah in Helmand,” Nato said in a statement.

“The service member was killed conducting train, advise, assist activities with Afghan counterparts under Nato authorities when their patrol triggered an Impro­vised Explosive Device,” the statement added, without naming the soldier.

It marks the first American fatality in the country since January, when a US soldier was killed while conducting a mission with Afghan special forces in Helmand’s Marjah district.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2016