Wahpeton soldier killed in Afghanistan

An Army soldier from Wahpeton has been killed in Afghanistan.

Army Spc. Keenan Cooper, 19, was killed by a roadside bomb Monday, according to the Rev. Mike Adams, a family spokesman.

Adams says parents Dave and Heather Cooper were notified Monday night. Funeral arrangements are pending.

Adams says Keenan Cooper would have celebrated his 20th birthday next week. He was due to wrap up his first tour of duty in Afghanistan next month, and was to get married in October. He was home to visit last month.

Cooper's fiancee, April Travis, and his parents are to be at Dover Air Force Base in Maryland when his body is returned Wednesday.

Insurgent attacks have been increasing in much of the Afghanistan as NATO ramps up a crucial push to bring security to Taliban-dominated areas in the south after nearly nine years of war.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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