Story highlights Melgar's cause of death was asphyxiation, defense official says

The report comes as the US military's role in Africa undergoes heightened scrutiny

Washington (CNN) The Navy is investigating whether two members of the Navy's elite SEAL Team Six killed an Army Green Beret in Mali in June, a US official told CNN Sunday.

Naval Criminal Investigative Service spokesman Ed Buice confirmed to CNN the NCIS investigation into the death of Army Staff Sgt. Logan J. Melgar.

Melgar was a Special Forces Engineer Sergeant, according to a statement from the US Army Special Command.

Military officials told CNN that a military examiner ruled Melgar's death while on assignment in the African nation of Mali as a homicide.

Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar.

A US official told CNN jurisdiction for the investigation shifted from the Army investigation service to the Navy in September. The official said the transfer of jurisdiction indicates that Navy personnel are subjects of the investigation.

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