Two American troops were killed on Wednesday in southern Afghanistan.
Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis confirmed that “two U.S. servicemembers were killed in action in Kandahar, Afghanistan, when their convoy came under attack.”
The Taliban took responsibility for the afternoon attack on the NATO convoy, claiming the bombing killed 15 soldiers and destroyed two armored tanks, The Associated Press reported.
Qari Yusuf Ahmadi, an insurgent spokesman in southern Afghanistan, said the attack involved a small, explosives-filled pickup truck.
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Earlier Wednesday, the NATO-led mission Resolute Support also confirmed that “a NATO convoy was attacked this afternoon in Kandahar.”
“The attack did cause casualties,” the statement said, adding that the mission was “working to gather additional information as quickly as possible.”
Kandahar province was the Taliban leadership’s headquarters during their five-year rule, which ended in 2001 with the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.
There are roughly 13,500 combined U.S. and NATO troops now in Afghanistan.
About 8,400 of the troops are American, and the Trump administration is deciding whether to send 3,000 to 5,000 more.
This story was last updated at 12:59 p.m.