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Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said in a statement he was \"heartbroken at the news\" and felt \"completely humbled by the service and the ultimate sacrifice offered by this brave and selfless soldier.\"

\"The entire Herbert family mourns with this soldier's family and we pray that their burdens may be lifted, and that the hearts of all Utahns will reach out to comfort them in their grief,\" the statement read.

In his final Facebook post on Oct. 28, Taylor encouraged everyone to vote and all for unity.

\"As the USA gets ready to vote in our own election next week, I hope everyone back home exercises their precious right to vote. And that whether the Republicans or the Democrats win, that we all remember that we have far more as Americans that unites us than divides us. “United we stand, divided we fall.” God Bless America,\" he wrote.

Taylor was elected mayor of North Ogden in 2013 after serving on the City Council since 2009. He held a bachelor's degree in Political Science from Brigham Young University and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Utah, according to the North Ogden city website. He was a current Ph.D. candidate at the University of Utah in International Relations.

The roughly 17,000 residents of North Ogden are mourning the loss of their city's mayor -- the city government writing in a statement posted to its website that Taylor had \"a profound influence on this community.\"

\"PHOTO:
Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune, via AP
PHOTO: Gov. Gary Herbert speaks during a news conference, Nov. 4, 2018, in Draper, Utah. Military officials say a major in Utah's Army National Guard who was also the mayor of a city north of Salt Lake City was killed in Afghanistan.
>

\"He was the best of men with the ability to see potential and possibility in everything around him,\" the statement said. \"We feel blessed to have had him as our mayor.\"

\"He had a great love and vision for this community,\" it added. \"He was patriotic to the core and a shining example of what an American politician should be. We are grateful for his service to both our city and our country. His loss will be felt for years to come.\"

Three Afghan insider attacks in three weeks

Taylor's death marks the third insider attack in Afghanistan in the last three weeks.

On Oct. 18, a member of the Afghan forces targeted prominent U.S. and Afghan generals in Kandahar, killing the province's well-known police chief, Gen. Abdul Raziq, and wounding U.S. Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Smiley who was later transferred to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Also present during the chaotic attack was the top U.S. general in command of all U.S. troops in Afghanistan who escaped unharmed.

The event has \"deeply shaken the relationship between Afghan and American forces,\" according to a New York Times investigation into the deadly insider attack.

Just four days later, a Czech soldier was killed and two others were wounded during another insider attack in Herat Province in western Afghanistan.

The number of insider attacks in Afghanistan peaked at 61 in 2012 but had become rarer after the U.S. military instituted security safeguards to protect American troops.

ABC News' Luis Martinez contributed to this report from the Pentagon.

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