US mayor Taylor on leave from office killed in Afghanistan
Brent Taylor, the mayor of North Ogden, Utah in the United States was killed Saturday on military duty in Afghanistan as part of Utah’s National Guard.
According to thehill.com Taylor was killed in an “insider attack” in Kabul, according to a statement from the Utah National Guard to Fox 13 Salt Lake City, while the terrorist responsible was immediately killed by Afghan forces.
“These reports also indicate the attacker was immediately killed by other Afghan Forces,” the statement said. “The incident is under investigation.”
The attacker was reportedly posing as a member of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces, which U.S. officials have hoped can take over battling terror groups in the region in the coming years.
Taylor had temporarily stepped down as North Ogden’s mayor during his deployment, which began in January of this year. The Fox affiliate reported that Taylor had been deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan multiple times in the past.
“Things are going great, and I absolutely love the dedicated US and Afghan soldiers I serve with every day,” Taylor wrote in an update about his deployment earlier this year.
Taylor was killed just two weeks after another U.S. service member, Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Smiley, was wounded in an “apparent insider attack” in Afghanistan.
Two Afghan officials were also killed in that attack, for which the Taliban claimed responsibility, according to CNN.
