An American soldier in Afghanistan. Photo: Noorullah Shirzada/AFP/Getty Images
Two U.S. service members died in northern Afghanistan on Friday during a joint operation with Afghan forces.
Why it matters: Four American soldiers have died in Afghanistan so far in 2019, and 14 died in 2018 according to iCasualties. President Trump ordered the Pentagon last year to withdraw half of the 14,000 U.S. troops currently in Afghanistan, but his State of the Union address in February tied troop withdrawals to an ongoing peace process and gave no clear timeline to move forward, per the Washington Post.
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