By Daily Mail Reporters and Associated Press A 28-year-old special forces sergeant has been identified as the fifth US solider killed in a friendly fire airstrike in Afghanistan this week. Pentagon officials said Staff Sgt. Jason A. McDonald from Butler, Georgia, was killed during a security operation in Gaza Village after the unit was attacked by the Taliban on Monday. McDonald was assigned to 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group, out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The other four casualties were Staff Sgt. Scott R. Studenmund, 24, Spc. Justin R. Helton, 25, Cpl. Justin R. Clouse, 22 and Pvt. 2nd Class Aaron S. Toppen, 19.
@highlight
Five soldiers died in southern Afghanistan as special operations soldiers were on patrol with Afghan National Army troops on June 9
@highlight
A strategic B-1 bomber reportedly dropped its payload on the soldiers instead of Taliban attackers
@highlight
Defense have identified the victims as: Jason McDonald, 28, Aaron Toppen, 19, Justin Helton, 25, Justin Clouse, 22, and Scott Studenmund, 24
News of the deaths has sent shockwaves across @placeholder, with the soldiers' families saying the men died with honor.
@placeholder - one of the most elite units in the U.S. military.