Takoma Park Soldier Dies After Afghanistan Attack

A soldier who lived in Maryland died Tuesday, more than three weeks after he was hurt in a stunning suicide bombing on a United States air base in Afghanistan.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Allan E. Brown, 42, succumbed to injuries he received Nov. 12 on Bagram Air Base, the Department of Defense said Wednesday.

Brown was one of 16 Americans hurt when a man wearing a suicide vest detonated the device as people gathered for a post-Veterans Day run. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and said they had been planning it for four months.

The suicide bomber chose the time and location -- the largest NATO military base -- because he was "looking for an opportunity to do the most damage," a senior U.S. military official told NBC News.

Two other U.S. servicemen died the same day of the bombing.

Brown began serving in the military in March 2004 as a senior data systems integrator, the Fort Hood Public Affairs Office said. He spent almost three years in Iraq, off and on, between August 2006 and December 2011 for Operation Iraqi Freedom.

He was deployed again from July 2014 to September 2014 for Operation Enduring Freedom, and most recently was in Afghanistan for Operation Freedom's Sentinel starting in September 2016.

Brown was the recipient of 22 medals and 11 ribbons.

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