Five soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team were killed last Thursday when their 'Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All Terrain Vehicle' rolled over an IED, the newspaper 'Stars & Stripes' reports.

(Read the official announcement of the deaths here.)

"From fighting positions nearby, soldiers watched as the catastrophic explosion sent a plume of white smoke nearly 200 feet in the air. When they arrived at the blast site moments later, they found the doors and turret blown from the vehicle.

"The extreme nature of the blast, which breached the hull of the armored vehicle and pushed the engine into the cab, remains under investigation, but soldiers here speculate that military-grade explosives were used," the newspaper reported.

The story, written by Laura Rauch, has much, much more information in it, including profiles of the men killed, the reaction of their fellow soldiers and an explanation of the small patch of land they're fighting for.

Read it here.

7 News spoke with Rauch by phone from Afghanistan.

"To lose one soldier is devastating. To lose an entire squad is a tragedy beyond measure, so they're pretty devastated," she said.

Rauch was on scene within an hour after the soldiers' vehicle hit an improvised explosive device.

The blast killed squad leader Edward Frank II,  Specialist Jameeel Freeman,  Specialist Patrick Lay II, who survived a bomb blast in May, Specialist Jordan Morris, who attended West Point, and Private First Class Rueben Lopez. - all with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team.

They were victims of an IED  that seemed different from the others.

"It really ripped that vehicle apart and that's a fully armored vehicle made to take a pretty strong hit," said Rauch.

The quickly rising smoke was white, instead of the usual black.

"That tells you there might be something different in what they were using," said Rauch.

Later, a somber sendoff from Command Outpost Nalgham.

"The soldiers who were at the command post were sending their fellow soldiers back to their families," said Rauch.

Back home in the United States, Governor Andrew Cuomo has directed that flags on all state office buildings be flown at half-staff on Wednesday in honor of the five fallen soldiers.

He said this is a terrible loss for the Fort Drum community and all New Yorkers.