Story highlights The incident occurred 40 miles west of Mogadishu near the town of Barii

The US troops were part of an ongoing US military program to advise and assist Somali ground forces

(CNN) A US military member was killed and two others wounded in Somalia when they were attacked while on a mission advising Somali National Army forces, US Africa Command confirmed Friday.

The US service member killed in action was a Navy SEAL, a US defense official told CNN.

A US military official confirmed that this is the first US service member killed in action in Somalia since 1993, when two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down and 18 American soldiers were killed in the Battle for Mogadishu.

The incident occurred Thursday during an operation against local al Qaeda affiliate al Shabaab 40 miles west of Mogadishu in the Shebelle region. The wounded, including an interpreter who was also a US citizen, are receiving medical attention, another US defense official told CNN. The troops came under small arms fire.

The US troops were part of an ongoing US military program to advise and assist Somali ground forces. The mission was not part of the stepped-up effort in Somalia to conduct airstrikes and ground missions against terror targets.

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