Two soldiers killed by IED in Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, July 26 (UPI) —

Two U.S. Army soldiers were killed Thursday in Afghanistan, and one died in San Antonio from an illness he contracted in Ghanzi province.

Staff Sgt. Benjamin G. Prange, 30, and Pfc. Keith M. Williams, 19, died Thursday from an improvised explosive device in Kandahar province, the U.S. Department of Defense said.

Prange was from Hickman, Neb., and Williams was from Visalia, Calif.

Both were of the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson in Colorado.

Meanwhile, Pfc. Donnell A. Hamilton, 20, of Kenosha, Wisc., died while under treatment at Brooke Medical Center in San Antonio. He had contracted an illness in Ghanzi province, Afghanistan.

U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan are scheduled to come to an end at the end of 2014, though President Obama said 10,000 soldiers could stay stationed in the country if the United States signs a security agreement with Afghanistan.