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The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan has quietly instituted a policy under which the reporting of most American combat deaths in that country will be delayed until after the families of the fallen have been officially notified, a U.S. military spokesman confirmed Friday.

Until now, whenever a U.S. service member was killed in action, the death was sent out as a press release right away, with the name and other identifying information withheld, until 24 hours after the next-of-kin notification process was completed.

Under the new policy, ordered by Gen. John Nicholson, commander of Operation Resolute Support, most deaths in Afghanistan will be reported only after families have been informed, which could be several days after the fact.

"Gen. Nicholson wants the support systems we have in place for the families of our fallen and wounded warriors to be in place with the families before a public announcement," said Navy Capt. Bill Salvin, a U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan. "We are going to release the same amount of information, it will just come a bit later than it has in the past."

There was no public announcement of the policy change. Instead, it came to light when the Pentagon announced Wednesday that a 19-year-old soldier, Pfc. Hansen Kirkpatrick, had been killed July 3, two days earlier, by indirect fire while on a counterterrorism mission against the Taliban in Helmand province.

The change, the first since the Afghanistan war began in 2001, was taken to task in a Buzzfeed report Thursday, which argued the two-day delay "would eliminate real-time coverage of US operations in Afghanistan, just as the Trump administration considers sending more troops there."

But Salvin said in the event of a major engagement or mass casualty event, U.S. combat deaths would be reported right away.

"We know that there are times when the situation will dictate that we put out information prior to notification being made or prior to the 24 hours post-notification being complete," Salvin said. "The most recent green-on-blue [insider attack] is an example. The numbers of US wounded being reported were all over the place and we clarified the accurate information very quickly."

But Salvin said in many cases even an initial bare-bones report can cause unwarranted emotional distress among anyone who has a loved one serving in a war zone.

"The non-identifying' information that has customarily been released in the past, ahead of next-of-kin notification, has actually become identifiable because of our small footprint in the country," Salvin said in an email from Afghanistan. "If I say a service member was killed in Helmand province, everyone will automatically think Marines because they are the team operating there now.

"We are balancing our obligation to our families and our obligation to release information to the media and the public in a timely manner," Salvin said. "This will allow us to meet both of those obligations."

The Pentagon said Wednesday the policy was the prerogative of the commander, and for now applies only to Afghanistan. Which means unless the commander there decides otherwise, casualties in Iraq and Syria will be reported right away, without the name, as has been the practice.

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In a policy change, US commander in Afghanistan begins delaying casualty notifications - Washington Examiner