Family, friends and State Department colleagues on Sunday were mourning the first death of an American diplomat on duty since Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed in the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya on Sept. 11 last year.
Anne Smedinghoff, 25, was one of five Americans killed in a car bomb attack on Saturday in Zabul Province, Afghanistan, Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday. Three of the dead were U.S. service members and the fifth a civilian employee of the Defense Department, Kerry said.
They had not been named as of Sunday morning.
Several Afghans and four other State Department employees were injured, one critically.
A sixth American civilian working with the U.S. government was killed in a separate attack in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, ISAF said in a statement.
"It's a grim reminder to all of us, though we didn't need any reminders, of how important and also how risky carrying the future is with people who want to resist," Kerry told State Department employees on Sunday during a visit in Istanbul, Turkey.
Smedinghoff and the other Americans were traveling in a convoy to southern Afghanistan to deliver textbooks to children in Qalat, Kerry said.
He met the Illinois-native several weeks ago when she worked as his control officer during his recent trip to Afghanistan. He described her as "vivacious, smart, capable."
"There are no words for anyone to describe the extraordinary harsh contradiction for a young 25-year-old woman, with all of her future ahead of her, believing in the possibilities of diplomacy to improve people's lives, making a difference, having an impact" to be killed, Kerry said.
He described Smedinghoff as "a selfless, idealistic woman who woke up yesterday morning and set out to bring textbooks to school children, to bring them knowledge."
Smedinghoff previously served in Venezuela.
In an email to the Washington Post, Smedinghoff's parents said their daughter "was always looking for opportunities to reach out and help to make a difference in the lives of those living in a country ravaged by war."
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