Westminster native Matthew R. Seidler was among three USAF servicemen killed this week in Afghanistan. (Photo/ Courtesy, U.S. Air Force)

USAF VEHICLE STRUCK BY INSURGENT BOMB
Attack on NATO forces  occurred in Shir Ghazi
 
A U.S. airman from Westminster was one of three Air Force servicemen killed in action Thursday in Afghanistan when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device in Helmand Province, the Pentagon announced this weekend.

Airman 1st Class Matthew R. Seidler, 24, had been assigned to the 21st Civil Engineer Squadron, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado.

Also killed in the attack were Senior Airman Bryan R. Bell, 23, of Erie, Pa., who had been assigned to the 2nd Civil Engineer Squadron, Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and Tech. Sgt. Matthew S. Schwartz, 34, of Traverse City, Mich., from the 90th Civil Engineer Squadron, FE Warren Air Force Base, Wyo.

The attack occurred in Shir Ghazi, Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The three were assigned to Operation Enduring Freedom.

Seidler was one of eight of NATO’s U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldiers who have died in a series of recent attacks in southern and eastern Afghanistan, according to military officials.

As reported by iCasualties.org, at least 566 NATO troops were killed in Afghanistan during 2011, including 418 from the United States and 46 from the United Kingdom.

Approximately 140,000 NATO military personnel — more than two-thirds from the United States — are currently fighting in the 10-year-long war opposing the Taliban-led insurgency against the NATO-backed government of President Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan.

No further details on the deaths of Seidler, Bell and Schwartz have been made available by the military.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Kevin Dayhoff, reporting from Carroll County for Voice of Baltimore

kevindayhoff@gmail.com