A 19-year-old American soldier has died in Afghanistan's Helmand Province from wounds received in an attack, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.
Private First Class Hansen Kirkpatrick of Wasilla, Alaska, died on Monday in the incident, which was under investigation, a Pentagon statement said. Further details were not available.
Large stretches of the restive province in southern Afghanistan, source of much of the world's illegal opium supply, are in the hands of Taliban insurgents, who have steadily pushed back Afghan forces that now control less than 60 percent of the country.
The Trump administration is considering adding several thousand troops, largely in a training and support capacity, to the pared-down U.S. military presence in Afghanistan.
