美国特种部队士兵星期四在阿富汗遇害，因为美国和塔利班官员正在进行和平谈判，整个地区继续发生暴力事件。
北约坚决支持团的官员星期五发表声明没有透露有关特种部队士兵如何被杀的任何细节。美国国防部和新闻周刊在扣留近亲通知后24小时内扣留美国服务成员的姓名。
五角大楼消息人士告诉新闻周刊，这名士兵在位于该国南部的扎布尔省被杀，该省与西部的坎大哈省接壤。
上周，中士。31岁的Luis F. Deleon-Figueroa和中士。35岁的Jose J. Gonzalez在北部Faryab省与阿富汗特种作战士兵的联合行动中丧生。
美国目前正与塔利班代表进行一系列和平谈判，这可能导致达成停火协议，并为更广泛的稳定框架奠定路线图。塔利班与阿富汗政府之间的进一步会谈将涉及权力分享问题以及妇女在阿富汗社会中的作用，这些问题目前得到宪法保护。
18年纠正的决议将取决于美国撤军和塔利班在阿富汗治理中的某种作用。美国正在寻求保证塔利班将遵守停战协议，并且不会允许恐怖组织在其监视下在阿富汗蓬勃发展。
目前正在卡塔尔的多哈举行会谈，距离阿富汗全国大选仅一个月。即将举行的选举正在和平进程中徘徊，因为各方都试图利用阿富汗代表权的不确定性来实现其战略利益。
今天的新闻将今年在阿富汗遇害的美国服役成员总数增加到15个，这是五年来的最高水平。本月早些时候，在喀布尔举行的一场婚礼上炸弹爆炸造成63人死亡，对和平进程安静解决的谨慎希望进一步受到了打击。伊斯兰国声称对这次袭击负责。
就他本人而言，唐纳德·特朗普总统在上周在椭圆形办公室内发表的评论中打破了他的政府正在进行的微妙谈判。
“正如我所说的那样，我会说它多次 - 而且这不是使用核 - 如果我们想打一场，我们可以在一周内赢得这场战争，但我不打算杀掉1000万人们，“他告诉记者。“我不想杀死1000万阿富汗人，因为那是必须发生的事情，我不打算这样做。”
特朗普上个月发表类似言论后，阿富汗总统阿什拉夫加尼的办公室立即要求通过外交途径进行“澄清”。
阿富汗总统候选人之一拉赫马图拉·纳比勒在推特上表示，该国领导人“应该放弃自私，并宣布我们将在自己之间实现和平”，美国领导人反对。
在五角大楼周三举行的新闻发布会上，国防部长马克·埃斯珀告诉记者，美国军方保留对塔利班使用核武器的权利。
“我们保留将所有选项保留在桌面上的权利，”Esper说。“但是，看，显然我们有一个计划向前发展。解决这场冲突的关键是一个政治协议。我们现在正走在这条道路上。我们希望我们能够得出某种结论，这将导致政治协议可以让我们走上正确的轨道。“
星期四，特朗普宣布，他的政府计划在与塔利班达成预期协议后至少暂时在阿富汗保留8,600名士兵。目前尚不清楚塔利班是否会加入这样的安排，或者特朗普的即兴提议将如何影响多哈的和平谈判。
特朗普还表示，阿富汗将继续在美国向前推进“高智商”存在。目前该国有14,000名美国军人。
自美国领导的入侵于2001年开始以来，已有超过2,400名美国军人死于阿富汗。
SPECIAL FORCES SOLDIER KILLED AS PEACE TALKS CONTINUE TO END AFGHAN WAR
An American Special Forces soldier was killed in Afghanistan Thursday as violence continues throughout the region amid ongoing peace negotiations between US and Taliban officials.
A statement released Friday by officials with the NATO Resolute Support mission did not disclose any details on how the Special Forces soldier was killed. The Defense Department and Newsweek are withholding the name of the US service member until 24 hours after next of kin are notified.
Pentagon sources told Newsweek the soldier was killed in Zabul Province, located in the south of the country, bordering the province of Kandahar to the west.
Last week, Master Sgt. Luis F. Deleon-Figueroa, 31, and Master Sgt. Jose J. Gonzalez, 35, were killed during a firefight while on a joint operation with Afghan special operation soldiers in the northern province of Faryab.
The United States is currently engaged in a series of peace talks with representatives of the Taliban, which could result in a cease-fire agreement and lay a road map for a broader framework for stability. Further talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government would involve questions of power-sharing and the role of women in Afghan society, who are currently given constitutional protections.
A resolution to the 18-year imbroglio would be conditioned upon American troop withdrawal and some sort of role for the Taliban in Afghanistan's governance. The United States is looking for assurances that the Taliban will abide by an armistice and won't permit terrorist organizations to flourish in Afghanistan on its watch.
The talks are currently being conducted out of Doha in Qatar, just a month ahead of national elections in Afghanistan. The upcoming elections are looming over the peace process as each side has sought to leverage the uncertainty about Afghanistan's representation for its strategic benefit.
Today's news brings the total number of US service members killed this year in Afghanistan to 15, its highest level in five years. Cautious hopes for a quiet resolution to the peace process were further rattled when a bomb blast killed 63 at a wedding in Kabul earlier this month. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for that attack.
For his part, President Donald Trump upset the delicate negotiations being conducted by his administration in comments he made last week inside the Oval Office.
"As I've said, and I'll say it any number of times — and this is not using nuclear — we could win that war in a week if we wanted to fight it, but I'm not looking to kill 10 million people," he told reporters. "I'm not looking to kill 10 million Afghans, because that's what would have to happen, and I'm not looking to do that."
After Trump made similar comments last month, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's office immediately asked for "clarification" through diplomatic channels.
Rahmatullah Nabil, one of Afghanistan's presidential candidates, suggested on Twitter that the country's leaders "should drop their selfishness & announce that we will make peace among ourselves," bucking US leadership.
During a Pentagon press briefing on Wednesday, Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters the US military retains the right to use nuclear weapons against the Taliban.
"We reserve the right to keep all options on the table," said Esper. "But, look, clearly we have a plan going forward. The key to resolve this conflict is a political agreement. We're on that path right now. We're hopeful that we can reach some type of conclusion that would result in a political agreement that can get us on the right trajectory."
On Thursday, Trump announced that his administration plans to keep 8,600 troops in Afghanistan, at least temporarily, following a prospective deal with the Taliban. It is unclear if the Taliban would accede to such an arrangement or how Trump's impromptu proposal would affect the peace talks in Doha.
Trump also said that Afghanistan will continue to host a "high intelligence" presence from the US moving forward. There are currently 14,000 US military personnel in the country.
More than 2,400 US service personnel have died in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion began in 2001.
