The Pentagon released an official statement today claiming that 3 US soldiers were killed, along with another wounded, due to an attack from an Afghan soldier in eastern afghanistan. The Afghan soldier responsible for the attack was reportedly killed also.

According to the Pentagon, the incident is still under investigation in which the details as to the cause of death of the US soldiers is currently undisclosed. Attahullah Khogyani, the spokesman for the provincial governor in the Nangarhar province, claimed that the attack took place in the Achin district.

The Taliban is taking responsibility for the attack in which their official spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed that a Taliban supporter had infiltrated the Afghan army in order to kill foreign soldiers.

Taliban Resurgence

Ever since former President Barak Obama’s announcement of his and NATO’s plan to gradually reduce the amount of US soldiers in Afghanistan, the Taliban have been experiencing a resurgence in which they currently control areas that haven’t been under their influence for nearly two decades. The US had maintained a consistent force of a minimum of roughly 30,000 troops since its initial invasion of Afghanistan back in 2001.

However, by December of 2016, that number had been reduced to about 8,400 soldiers stationed in four garrisons in Kabul, Kandahar, Bagram, and Jalalabad. Their primary duties at this point in their engagement are to help train and advise the Afghan Army as well as perform counter-terrorism operations.

While US forces have experienced 137 casualties, including 169 more wounded, since 2015, the Taliban have managed to take back a significant amount of territory.

As of 2017, the Taliban claims to have control over 34 districts in southern, western, and northern Afghanistan in which they’ve also mentioned that they’re currently contesting 167 more districts. Their recent resurgence was epitomized by the taking of Sangin, a strategic town in the Helmand province, in which 100 British troops were killed defending it.

The town was seen as the gateway to central and western Afghanistan meaning that it’s very plausible that the Taliban are poised to take more major cities and strategic points.

With the Taliban's revitalization not looking like it will be slowing down anytime soon, the US is drawing up plans to send more troops to Afghanistan to counter their resurgence as well as any ISIS contingents.