MONROEVILLE, Pa. (AP) — The Department of Defense says a Navy SEAL killed during a rescue operation in Afghanistan was a Pittsburgh-area man.

Defense officials identified him as Petty Officer 1st Class Nicolas D. Checque, 28, of Monroeville, about 15 miles east of Pittsburgh. Checque died of combat-related injuries suffered Saturday near Kabul, Afghanistan.

Pentagon officials previously said a SEAL was killed rescuing Dr. Dilip Joseph, an adviser for Morning Star Development who was abducted last week. Joseph was rescued after intelligence showed he was in imminent danger of injury or possible death.

Joseph was rescued by SEAL Team Six, the same unit that killed Osama bin Laden last year. It was not immediately clear if Checque was present for the raid on bin Laden.

Friends and family did not immediately return calls Monday from The Associated Press.

An unidentified man who answered a relative's phone in Washington County, where Checque's father lives, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the family "has asked that everybody respect their privacy at this time of grief and they do not wish to be contacted." The man would not identify himself.