Thursday, 4:30 PM
Slain Quincy soldier was not killed in combat, military says
(John Bohn / Globe Staff)
By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff
The Department of Defense confirmed this afternoon that Specialist Ciara Durkin, the 30-year-old Quincy soldier who died last week in Afghanistan, was not killed in combat.
A statement from the Pentagon said that the circumstances surrounding Durkin's death were under investigation. The statement did not offer any specifics about how she died. Durkin was in a finance unit of the Massachusetts Army National Guard that had been deployed to Afghanistan in February for a year-long tour.
Earlier today, Durkin's relatives told the Globe that they were notified by the military that she was found dead inside a secure US air base. "The family has been informed that she was in the compound, and she was shot in the head," said Fiona Canavan, the sister of the slain soldier.
Durkin was near a church at about 6:30 p.m. and it was dark. She went there every day she could, Canavan said.
"She was in a secure area of the compound, which, even though the investigation is not complete, leads the family to believe it was what is called friendly fire," Canavan said.
The National Guard said Sunday in a statement that the incident at Bagram Air Base is under investigation by the US Central Command. Durkin was in an accounting unit, helping soldiers get money they needed on base, and would not have been involved in combat, her family said. The name of her finance unit was Task Force Diamond.
The Guard statement also said she was killed "in action." A Guard spokesman, Major Jack McKenna, said today that the term means "that she was killed in Afghanistan and she wasn’t killed at home."
Canavan said her family is meeting with US officials today and also speaking with Irish officials. Durkin was born in Ireland and moved to Massachusetts when she was 9.
Canavan said the family's Army liaison told family members it could take up to eight weeks for the investigation to be completed.
