A United States Army soldier was killed and two were wounded in the town of Marja in Afghanistan during a joint U.S.-Afghan Special Operations mission, according to U.S. officials.

Some Afghans were also hurt during the operation to combat the Taliban — the details of which have yet to be made public.

According to an anonymous Pentagon official, military helicopters were sent to the scene to evacuate those wounded. One crashed after hitting a wall, and remains on the ground.

Another chopper was waved off after ground fire became too intense.

“We are deeply saddened by this loss,” Brig. Gen. Wilson Shoffner, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan said. “Our heartfelt sympathies go out to the families and friends of those involved.”

This from the Washington Post:

The U.S. casualties came amid an uptick in fighting in the restive province in recent weeks as Taliban forces have attempted to regain control of key towns such as Sangin, Marja and the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah. In December, Afghan army troops and police were surrounded by Taliban forces in the town of Sangin in a move that prompted a deputy governor in Helmand to use social media to plead for help from the government in Kabul.

Americans lost six airmen in Afghanistan right before Christmas, after a suicide bomber on a motorcycle struck adjacent to their convoy, not far from Bagram air base where they were all stationed.

In light of this tragedy, we’d be remiss to mention this post regarding Obama’s slippery wordplay and “boots on the ground” — i.e. “boots on the ground” are boots … on the ground.

TL; DR? U.S. Special Forces are in harm’s way. This news is proof yet again. We’re needlessly losing them to enemy fire, just like we did all throughout both the Iraq and Afghan wars.

Stay tuned to the blog for more on this still-developing story.