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Utah troops involved in fatal attack in Afghanistan

Posted at 12:15 PM, Jan 07, 2016
and last updated 2016-01-07 18:37:16-05

Utah troops were involved in the latest Afghanistan attack where one US soldier was killed and two others were hurt.

Soldiers of Detachment 2, Charlie Company, 5th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, Utah National Guard are serving a 12-month deployment that started back in October.

This is tragic reminder that the military conflicts overseas, in particular in Iraq and Afghanistan, are still very much on-going and that Utahans are in the middle of those hot zones.

The Pentagon confirmed that within the past few days, US Special Forces were conducting  training exercises with the Afghan military when they came under fire in an area called Marjah in southern Afghanistan.

With the team incurring casualties, National Guard Medevac units were sent to try to get the soldiers out.

The first two attempts were not successful but on the third try the Utah National Guard helicopter made it into that hot zone but it was a very precarious landing and exit.

Of the two Utah Guard members in that mixed crew, one had some minor injuries due to the border attack when he was treated on site.

One National Guardsman from the state of Washington, Staff Sergeant Matthew McClintock, died from his injuries sustained in that firefight.