Two U.S. Army soldiers stationed in Georgia were killed in Afghanistan on Thursday during a ground assault against fighters from the Islamic State, military officials said Friday.

Sgt. Joshua P. Rodgers, 22, of Bloomington, Ill., and Sgt. Cameron H. Thomas, 23, of Kettering, Ohio, died in Nangarhar Province, according to multiple reports.

U.S. forces were accompanying Afghan troops on a raid when they came under fire, according to Navy Capt. Bill Salvin, the U.S. military spokesman in Kabul. Dozens of ISIS fighters also were killed.

The U.S. and Afghan troops flew in by helicopter, then advanced on foot, the spokesman said.

The soldiers were stationed at Fort Benning, which is near Columbus.

The raid was in the same region of Afghanistan where the U.S. dropped the so-called “mother of all bombs” on an ISIS complex two weeks ago.

In other news:

About the Author

Keep Reading

In April, AMR paid DeKalb a penalty of more than $1.3 million for its substandard performance the previous to years. Now, the county says recent improvements in service mean the company deserves a new five-year contract. (AJC file)

Credit: JOHN SPINK/JSPINK@AJC.COM

Featured

The DeKalb school district is suing to recover money spent on cellphone lockers, plus money spent on implementing social media guidelines and hosting associated events, lost teaching time and to hire extra school counselors. (The New York Times file)

Credit: NYT