A Special Forces soldier who had been stationed at Fort Bragg was killed in restive southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, the Pentagon announced Friday.

Staff Sgt. Eric Caban, 28, of Fort Worth, Texas, died from wounds he suffered the previous day when his unit came under small-arms fire while on a reconnaissance patrol.

The fighting in Afghanistan has been overshadowed since the beginning of the Iraq war in early 2003. But in recent months, violence in the southern part of the country has flared to the highest level since the Taliban regime was booted out in 2001.

More than 10,000 U.S. and coalition troops are in the midst of an anti-Taliban offensive across the region, and more than 800 people have been killed there since May, most of them insurgents.

One of Caban's brothers, Efren Caban Jr., said in a telephone interview Friday from Springtown, Texas, that the family was referring questions to an Army chaplain.

"I can tell you that Eric was loved, and that he was a good brother and he was very passionate about what he did," Caban said.

Eric Caban was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group. He had a long record as a soldier but had been a Green Beret for only a few months.

According to a news release from the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Caban was born in Manhattan, N.Y., and joined the Army in September 1997. His first assignment was to the 75th Ranger Regiment, where he served as a sniper platoon member and team leader.

In October 2001, he deployed to Afghanistan and participated in a combat jump -- a rare and much-coveted distinction among Airborne troops -- to take Kandahar Airfield.

He left the Army in 2002 to attend college but returned to active duty the next year. He was a sniper instructor and then attended the Special Forces Qualification Course. After graduating in March this year, he was assigned to 7th Group.

Caban was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star for valor.

He is survived by his father, Efren, and mother Iris; and brothers Efren Jr. and Edwin Caban.

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