evidence: 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. [...] Keeping troops in Afghanistan beyond May 1 would drag "U.S. troops back into a violent counterinsurgency," said Adam Weinstein, a former Marine who served in Afghanistan and is now a research fellow for the Middle East at the Washington D.C.-based Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Having no American combat fatalities for a year was not a guarantee of "diminished risks in the future," he said.