Britney Spears’ Ex-Boyfriend Killed by Taliban in Afghanistan

John Sundahl, former love interest to Britney Spears, and the man who assisted her with her public battle with alcohol addiction, has been killed in Afghanistan.

Sundahl, 44, was reportedly working as a private contractor to shuttle officials across the war-plagued country by helicopter, when Taliban fighters targeted his flight after it had departed the capital city of Kabul.

Spears first met Sundahl, a former real estate agent, in 2007 at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in Los Angeles, CA. The two quickly became close, and the artist has even credited him with helping her overcome her drinking problems.

The couple was reportedly engaged at one point in their relationship, however a representative for Spears denied the rumors at the time.

The Daily Mirror reports that Sundahl once spoke openly about Spears very public battle with addiction:

I told her, “If you fall off the wagon I don’t think you’ll live. I told her, ‘If you don’t want to get sober for yourself, do it for your kids.”

She truly wants to stop what she’s doing, and she has changed her life in another direction. She doesn’t get drunk every night and pass out.

Sundahl’s brother, Karl, spoke about the events from his Los Angeles home, revealing officials informed the family the Taliban was responsible for the man’s death. “It’s heartbreaking,” he said. “John went there to try to repair the country. He was trying to help people, he would often say that the country was in chaos.”

The pilot’s body was returned to the U.S. last week, and a small family service was held at a Buddhist temple in L.A.

A source close to Spears also told the publication that the singer is devastated. “Britney thought he was a lovely man.”