KABUL, Afghanistan — No U.S. troops have died in combat in Afghanistan for a year as of Monday, but the Taliban have threatened to target them again if Washington opts to keep international forces in the country after a May withdrawal deadline.

Army Sgts. 1st Class Javier Gutierrez and Antonio Rodriguez were the last Americans to die in battle in Afghanistan on Feb. 8, 2020. Two other service members — Army Staff Sgt. Ian McLaughlin and Army Pfc. Miguel Villalon — were killed in combat there in January last year.

Weeks after their deaths, the U.S. and Taliban signed a deal under which Washington pledged to fully withdraw U.S.-led international forces from the country by May 1 of this year provided the Taliban held up its end of the agreement, including stopping attacks on foreign troops, and barring terrorist groups such as al-Qaida from using Afghanistan as a springboard to attack the U.S. or its allies.

Several military officials and lawmakers have said the Talban also agreed verbally to reduce violence in the country, although that is not included in the text of the agreement made public last year.

Despite the February deal, which was brokered by the Trump administration, violence surged last year and United Nations’ officials have said al-Qaida remains “heavily embedded” with the Taliban.

WASHINGTON — For the first time, WUSA9 is hearing from the Pentagon that there were in fact active duty and veteran members of the military who participated in the riots at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Just this week, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said “some of the extremists who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6 were active duty service members and others were military veterans.”

Because of that, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin is ordering all the military branches to stop and take a deeper look into the problem of extremism in the ranks. WUSA9 reached out to Pentagon officials about what exactly that will look like.

Officials said they are still working out the details on what comes next.

A person who is found guilty of attempted mutiny, mutiny, sedition, or failure to suppress or report a mutiny or sedition shall be punished by death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct."

A nearly decade-old Defense Department order that prohibits troops from actively participating in gangs or hate groups – but doesn't forbid them from being members – could soon get an update.

A 2012 Pentagon policy on handling dissident and protest activities among military personnel conspicuously doesn't ban troops from being members of organizations that advocate supremacist, extremist or criminal gang ideologies. What is prohibited, according to the order, is "active participation" in the groups.

That could change, the top Pentagon spokesman said on Friday, as defense officials take on the issue of extremism in the ranks.

"Membership is not considered inconsistent with service in the military," John Kirby told reporters. "It is really about what you do with that membership. I'm not going to be predictive one way or the other about where this discussion is going, but I think membership in these groups is certainly something that I would expect [the defense secretary and Joint Chiefs] to look at."