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U.S. Navy SEAL killed near Kandahar

Chief Petty Officer Matthew J. Bourgeois
Chief Petty Officer Matthew J. Bourgeois  


From Barbara Starr
CNN Pentagon Correspondent

(CNN) -- The U.S. Central Command confirmed on Thursday that a member of U.S. Special Operations was killed and another service member was wounded by an explosion of enemy munitions outside Kandahar, Afghanistan.

The dead man was a Navy SEAL identified as Chief Petty Officer Matthew J. Bourgeois, 35, from Tallahassee, Florida.

Bourgeois was serving as a hospital corpsman. He became the 31st military death in the U.S.-led war on terror.

The second victim's identity has not yet been released, but his wounds were not life-threatening, officials Thursday told CNN.

EXTRA INFORMATION
Timeline: Fallen servicemen 
 

The explosion, at around 11 p.m. EST on Wednesday, was apparently triggered by someone stepping on what officials described as an "enemy ground-placed munition," at a site southeast of Kandahar.

Officials say they are not sure if the victims stepped on a land mine or a piece of unexploded ground ordnance. The accident happened at a site where U.S. troops are trained in the removal and neutralization of munitions such as land mines.



 
 
 
 







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