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Three American service members and a U.S. contractor were killed when their convoy hit a roadside bomb on Monday near the main U.S. base in Afghanistan, U.S. officials said in a statement. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

The U.S. and NATO Resolute Support mission said the four Americans were killed near the Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, while three others were wounded in the explosion. The base in Bagram district is located in northern Parwan province and serves as the main U.S. air facility in the country.

The wounded were evacuated and are receiving medical care, the statement said. It added that in accordance with U.S. Department of Defense policy, the names of service members killed in action were being withheld until after the notification of next of kin.

In their claim of responsibility, the Taliban said they launched the attack and that one of their suicide bombers detonated his explosives-laden vehicle near the NATO base. The conflicting accounts could not be immediately reconciled.

The fatalities, which bring to seven the number of U.S. soldiers killed so far this year in Afghanistan, underscore the difficulties in bringing peace to the war-wrecked country even as Washington has stepped up efforts to find a way to end the 17-year war, America's longest.

There are about 14,000 U.S. forces in Afghanistan, supporting embattled Afghan forces as they struggle on two fronts facing a resurgent Taliban who now hold sway over almost half the country and also the Islamic State affiliate, which has sought to expand its footprint in Afghanistan even as its self-proclaimed "caliphate" has crumbled in Syria and Iraq.

Last year, 13 U.S. service members were killed in Afghanistan.

The Taliban have continued to carry out daily attacks on Afghan security forces despite holding several rounds of peace talks with the United States in recent months. The Taliban have refused to meet with the Afghan government, which they view as a U.S. puppet.

Meanwhile, the Taliban have agreed to take part in an all-Afghan gathering later this month in Qatar, where the insurgents maintain a political office. But the Taliban say they will not recognize any government official attending the gathering as a representative of the Kabul government, only as an individual Afghan participant.

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3 U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan along with contractor, 3 ...

Afghanistan is highly prone to intense and recurring natural hazards such as flooding, earthquakes, snow avalanches, landslides and droughts due to its geographical location and years of environmental degradation.

Climate change also poses a threat to Afghanistans natural resources, of which the majority of Afghans depend for their livelihoods. Afghanistan faces significant impacts of climate change and disasters which impact growth prospects.

The countrys low level of socio-economic development makes it extremely vulnerable to disasters, resulting in frequent loss of lives, livelihoods, and public and private property. Since 1980, disasters caused by natural hazards have affected 9 million people and caused over 20,000 fatalities in the country.

The Establishing Critical Risk Information project ensures that policy makers, government counterparts, partner organizations and agencies have access to comprehensive multi-hazard risk assessments. These inform and integrate development planning, public policy and investments in assuring the resilience of new and existing reconstruction to natural hazards and climate change which are critical to secure both lives and livelihoods.

This project therefore supports the creation, understanding and accessibility of hazard, exposure, vulnerability and risk information as a critical component for effective management of disaster risk and climate risk in Afghanistan.

With funding from the Government of Japan and the Global Facility for Disaster Risk Reduction and in close cooperation with the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Agency, the World Bank has produced a comprehensive multi-hazard risk assessment at the national level, including in depth assessments for selected geographic areas.

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Afghanistan: Disaster Risk Management & Resilience Program

Snow-capped mountains in Badakhshan province, Afghanistan. Landslides are common in the remote, mountainous area, often caused by heavy rain and snow. Massoud Hossaini/AP hide caption

Snow-capped mountains in Badakhshan province, Afghanistan. Landslides are common in the remote, mountainous area, often caused by heavy rain and snow.

At least 30 workers were killed and several others injured when a gold mine in northeastern Afghanistan collapsed Sunday, local officials said.

Nek Mohammad Nazari, a spokesman for the provincial governor, told Agence France-Presse the victims were illegally searching for gold and had dug deep in a riverbed in the Kohistan district of Badakhshan province when the walls caved in.

Local villagers and the Taliban alike rely heavily on illegal mining for revenue in the region.

"The villagers have been involved in this business for decades with no government control over them," Nazari said. "We have sent a rescue team to the area, but villagers have already started removing bodies from the site."

Sanaullah Rohani, a spokesman for the police chief in Badakhshan, told the Associated Press about 50 people were working in the mine at the time of the collapse and a number of victims are in critical condition. Rohani said the tragedy was caused by a landslide.

Landslides are common in the remote, mountainous area, often caused by heavy rain and snow. In 2014, a pair of huge mudslides killed hundreds of people in Badakhshan province. As many as 2,500 people reportedly may have died in that disaster.

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At least 30 workers killed in Afghanistan gold mine collapse ...

The men and women who fought and bled in the Middle East wars of the past three decades are going to get a welcome home next May at an Omaha landmark that was once synonymous with veteran homecomings in Nebraska.

The party for Purple Heart and valor award recipients of the Iraq, Afghanistan and Gulf Wars will take place May 24 at the Durham Museum, the former railroad station where thousands of their World War II predecessors returned from war zones.

The event will follow a whirlwind 24 hours that will begin with a tribute dinner, continue with a pre-dawn flight to Washington, D.C., like earlier Honor Flights, and culminate in a trolley ride and parade through the Old Market to the Durham.

With it being downtown, we think it will really add to the celebration of welcome home, said Evonne Williams, co-founder with her husband, Bill, of Patriotic Productions, the nonprofit that is putting together the event. We think people will embrace it come on downtown and wave the flags and the signs.

The Williamses said the flight will be open to anyone who was wounded in Operation Desert Storm, the brief 1991 campaign to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait, or in the post-9/11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They will also take veterans who earned a Bronze Star with a V device for valor or higher-level valor awards such as a Silver Star or service cross. (No Nebraskan has yet earned the highest award, the Medal of Honor, in any of those conflicts.)

Theyll be joined on the flight by the Gold Star children of Nebraska service members who were killed in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Since 2008, Patriotic Productions has taken 16 planeloads of Nebraska veterans to Washington on the one-day trips. The last flight, in September, carried female veterans ages 27 to 98.

The Williamses are planning a fundraising dinner on March 2 in Blair featuring music by the 60s band Gary Lewis and the Playboys. Lewis, the son of the late comedian Jerry Lewis, is a Vietnam-era Army veteran.

This flight has special meaning because the Williamses four sons have all served in the military since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Two served in war zones. Ben Williams, an Army captain, deployed three times to Iraq. Tom Williams, a Marine captain, deployed once to Afghanistan. Both came home safely.

Weve certainly lived through these wars since the towers fell, Evonne Williams said.

Retired Marine 1st Sgt. Wade Jensen is one of about a dozen veterans who have already signed up for the Purple Heart flight.

A native of Friend, Nebraska, he grew up idolizing the men in his community who had served in World War II. Their example inspired him to join the Marines.

There was a World War II vet on every block in my hometown, said Jensen, who is 47.

Jensen entered boot camp in September 1990. He barely missed serving in the Gulf War early the next year. His first assignment was as a radio operator in a tank unit in Okinawa made up entirely of Gulf War veterans.

Jensen was in Okinawa again when terrorists attacked targets in New York and Washington on 9/11.

Eighteen months later, Jensen was part of the Marine force that invaded Iraq in the spring of 2003. He was wounded on his second deployment, which began in late 2004. He was embedded with a newly trained Iraqi army unit in Mosul.

On Feb. 11, 2005, he and another Marine had been conducting a reconnaissance walk through a residential neighborhood. The occupants of a car jumped out and began firing rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons.

Jensen was briefly blinded by a flash but continued to fight until the men in the car were repelled. He ducked behind a wall and took a knee, feeling short of breath. The other Marine pulled off Jensens flak vest.

He said, Oh (expletive), Gunny, you took one, Jensen recalled.

He was taken to an aid station on the main base in Mosul. Doctors there found that the bullet had penetrated his right shoulder and exited through his neck. It barreled through muscle a Roto-Rooter through injury, as Jensen describes it and missed his spinal cord by just a centimeter.

But not wanting to leave his fellow Marines behind, Jensen refused a medical evacuation to Germany and finished his tour.

Things became so damn painful after I got back, I couldnt stand it, Jensen said. I just continued to suck it up because I was scared to death of getting put out for medical reasons.

He couldnt deploy anymore. But in 2007, he drew an assignment as the enlisted leader of a Marine detachment at Fort Omaha. He served there until he retired in 2011.

Since then, Jensen has earned a business degree at Bellevue University, and still works there at the Military Veteran Services Center. He continues to suffer chronic neck pain and migraines because of his war wounds.

That hasnt stopped him from leading the local chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. Nor has it stopped him from getting up early to see off veterans on Patriotic Productions previous flights to Washington.

Whenever theres an opportunity to recognize these veterans, Ill do it, he said.

The Williamses have said after their past several flights that they planned no more. But so far, they have consistently found a reason for just one more. This time, its to honor the wounded and the valorous men and women from the most recent wars, and their families.

And hopefully, to help them heal. Veterans who have flown on previous flights have said they found the trips therapeutic.

Wed love to err on the side of helping these guys out, Evonne Williams said. Maybe itll save some lives.

Highest rank achieved: Petty officer, 3rd class

Years of service: 1967-1971

Where served: Okinawa, Japan and Rota, Spain

Highest rank achieved: Master sergeant

Where served: Aleutian Islands, Germany, England, Korea, Vietnam

Highest rank achieved: Private first class

Years of service: 2004-2008 active, 2008-2010 Reserves

Highest rank achieved: Sergeant

Years of service: 2014-present

Where served: Afghanistan

Highest rank achieved: Command sergeant major

Years of service: 1997-current

Where served: Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay

Highest rank achieved: Specialist

Where served: Afghanistan

Highest rank achieved: Corporal

Years of service: 2005-2016

Where served: Iraq, Afghanistan

Highest rank achieved: Staff sergeant

Highest rank achieved: Sergeant

Years of service: 1969-1971

Where served: Mediterranean, South China Sea, Philippines

Highest rank achieved: Corporal

Years of service: 1968-1970

Highest rank achieved: Sergeant

Highest rank achieved: Corporal

Years of service: 1943-1946

Where served: South Pacific; Sasebo, Japan

Highest rank achieved: Private first class

Years of service: 1945-1946

Where served: Philippines

Highest rank achieved: Staff sergeant

Years of service: Three years

Highest rank achieved: Chief electrician's mate

Years of service: Six years

Where served: Pearl Harbor, Bikini Atoll, South Pacific

Highest rank achieved: Captain

Years of service: Nine years

Where served: Italy, Liberia

Highest rank achieved: Technical sergeant

Years of service: 1943-1945

Where served: Southern Italy

Highest rank achieved: Chief warrant officer 2

Years of service: 1996-2016

Where served: Kuwait, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan

Highest rank achieved: Sergeant

Years of service: 10 years

Where served: Afghanistan, Texas

Highest rank achieved: Colonel

Years of service: 30 years

Where served: Vietnam, England, Spain, Labrador

Highest rank achieved: Petty officer

Years of service: Four years

Highest rank achieved: Sergeant

Years of service: 23 years

Highest rank achieved: Radarman 2nd class

Years of service: One and a half years

Highest rank achieved: Petty officer, 3rd class

Years of service: 1951-1955

Highest rank achieved: Staff sergeant

Years of service: Six years

Highest rank achieved: Sergeant

Years of service: 1941-1945

Where served: France, Luxembourg, Germany, Belgium

Highest rank achieved: Corporal

Years of service: Four years

Highest rank achieved: Specialist

Years of service: 1966-1970

Highest rank achieved: Colonel

Where served: Germany, France, Vietnam

Highest rank achieved: 2nd lieutenant

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Iraq, Afghanistan vets will get welcome in Old Market ...

An Afghan fruit vendor pushes his cart along a roadside near the Eid Gah Mosque in Kabul on Jan. 6, 2019. (Credit: Shakib Rahmani/AFP/Getty Images)

An Afghan fruit vendor pushes his cart along a roadside near the Eid Gah Mosque in Kabul on Jan. 6, 2019. (Credit: Shakib Rahmani/AFP/Getty Images)

At least 30 Afghan villagers searching for gold in a riverbed perished on Sunday in a flash flood in northeastern Badakhshan province, provincial officials said.

Along with those killed, dozens were also injured as a landslide and flash flood engulfed the river in the morning in Kohistan district, an area about 110 kilometers (68 miles), from Fayzabad, the capital of Badakhshan.

Nek Mohammad Nazari, the spokesman for the provincial governor, said the villagers had dug deep in the river, which had in the past been mined for gold, when they were caught in the flash flood. The casualty numbers could rise, he said.

The victims were villagers who were mining for gold illegally, according to the official. Rescue teams have been dispatched to the area to help in recovering the bodies, Nazari said.

Sanaullah Rohani, spokesman for the police chief in Badakhshan, said seven of the injured were in critical condition. According to Rohani, there were about 50 people illegally looking for gold at the time of the landslide.

Fawzia Kofi, a lawmaker form Badakhshan, gave a higher death toll for the tragedy, saying that 40 villagers were killed.

Afghanistan is a mountainous, land-locked nation that has huge, largely untouched reserves of copper, iron ore, chromite, mercury, zinc, gems, including rubies and emeralds, as well as gold and silver.

Mines are scattered across different provinces of the country, but still the government has not been able to achieve investments in this important sector or establish a thriving extraction industry.

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At Least 30 Dead in Afghanistan Flash Flood | KTLA