Green Beret killed by 'two Navy SEALs after he uncovered alleged theft'

The Navy seals under investigation over the death were allegedly taking money from a fund used to pay informants

Mr Melgar was a Special Forces Engineer in the US Army Special Forces which is colloquially referred to as the Green Berets because of their distinctive headwear (US Army)

Two Navy SEALs reportedly being investigated over the death of an Army Green Beret in Mali are accused of killing him after he learned they had been allegedly stealing.

Two special operations sources who remained unnamed told the Daily Beast the members of the US Navy’s elite SEAL team – which stands for “Sea, Air, and Land” – under investigation over the death of Logan J Melgar had been taking money from a fund utilised to pay informants.

Mr Melgar was a Special Forces Engineer in the US Army Special Forces which is colloquially referred to as the Green Berets because of their distinctive headwear.

The sources allege Mr Melgar uncovered the theft and rebuffed an offer to gain a cut of the takings.

They also claim that an altercation erupted on 4 June - but the trigger for it remains unknown - and Mr Melgar in turn stopped breathing.

According to former Africom officials, the SEALs and another Green Beret escorted the 34-year-old to hospital.

One official told the publication, Mr Melgar had informed his wife he had a negative instinct about two of the partners he was working with - the SEALs - and he would tell her more when he arrived home.

Military officials told CNN a military examiner ruled Mr Melgar's death while on assignment in the landlocked West African country as a homicide.

According to a defence official who knew the findings of the medical examiner's report, Mr Melgar's cause of death was asphyxiation.

According to a US Army Special Command statement, Mr Melgar, who comes from Lubbock, Texas, signed up to the US Army in 2012 and started Special Forces training in 2013. He then carried out two deployments in Afghanistan.

He had been placed in Mali since February with troops providing support for the US embassy there.

Mr Melgar was a member of the third Special Forces Group - the primary unit responsible for Army special operations in northwest Africa, including Mali and Niger.