SrA. Michael. J. Buras of Fitzgerald, Ga., died Tuesday in Kandahar, Afghanistan, as the result of wounds he received when an improvised explosive device detonated near him, the Defense Department announced Wednesday. Buras, 23, was assigned to the 99th Civil Engineer Squadron at Nellis AFB, Nev.
The U.S. sent Air Force F-16s over central Syria in a show of force following the Dec. 13 killing of two U.S. Army Soldiers and one American civilian interpreter by a gunman linked to the Islamic State group.

