By Ben Brumfield and Michael Martinez
Secretary of State John Kerry took a moment out of his trip to the Middle East Sunday to lament the killing of a Foreign Service member, who was one of six Americans recently killed in Afghanistan.
Kerry met Anne Smedinghoff less than a month ago, he told journalists in Istanbul, Turkey. She was part of his team at the time.
"I remember her as vivacious, smart, capable, often chosen by the ambassador for her capabilities," Kerry said.
By Michael Martinez
Two attacks in Afghanistan killed six Americans - four service members and two civilians - on Saturday as a top U.S. military official arrived to assess the country's security, officials said.
The deadliest attack was the bombing of a military convoy delivering books to a school in southern Afghanistan's Zabul province in which three service members, a State Department civilian and a Department of Defense civilian were killed, according to U.S. officials.
Afghan civilians also died in that incident, said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. Four more State Department personnel suffered injuries, one of them critically, Kerry said.