Aug. 31 (UPI) -- The Department of Defense has identified the soldier who died Thursday from combat in Afghanistan.
Sgt. 1st Class Dustin B. Ard, 31, from Hyde Park, Utah, died from "wounds sustained while engaged in combat operations in Zabul Province, Afghanistan," a DoD statement said Saturday.
He was serving in the NATO's Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, military officials said. The mission is to advise and assist Afghan forces in conducting counterterrorism operations against the Islamic State and al-Qaida.
"Ard was assigned to 2nd Batallion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington," the statement added. "The incident is under investigation."
On Thursday, president Donald Trump announced plans to maintain a presence of 8,600 troops in Afghanistan amid a large scale withdrawal from the country.
About 14,000 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan, 15 of whom have died since the beginning of 2019.
