Taliban claim to have captured US soldier

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Taliban claim to have captured US soldier
Thursday 02 July 2009

AFP - A US soldier is believed to have been captured by insurgents in Afghanistan, the military said Thursday, as a commander for a hardline Taliban faction said his militia had the trooper.

It was believed to be the first time militants abducted an American soldier in Afghanistan since US troops were deployed to oust the Taliban regime in 2001 and then remained to fight a growing extremist insurgency.

"A US soldier who has been missing since June 30 from his assigned unit is believed to have been captured by militant forces," US military spokeswoman Captain Elizabeth Mathias told AFP.

She said it was the first time an American soldier had been captured in two to three years in either Iraq or Afghanistan but could not confirm it was the first such case for this country.

"We are using all of our available resources to find him and provide for his safe return."

Mathias could not give more information, including the province where the soldier went missing.

"We are not providing further details to protect the soldier's situation and well-being," she said.

But a commander of the Taliban's hardline Haqqani faction told an AFP reporter that his militia had captured a US trooper and three Afghans in the province of Paktika, which borders Pakistan.

"One of our commanders named Mawlawi Sangin has captured a coalition soldier along with his three Afghan guards in Yousuf Khail district of Paktika province," the commander, named only Bahram, told AFP.

"The coalition soldier has been taken to a safe place," he said.

The militia's leaders would likely issue demands for his release, said the commander who is known to the reporter.

"Our leaders have not decided on the fate of this soldier. They will decide on his fate and soon we will present video tapes of the coalition soldier and our demand to media," he said.

The US military has been hunting leaders of the Al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network, which it has described as one of the "most lethal Taliban organisations".

The capture comes as nearly 4,000 newly deployed US Marines launched a major operation in the southern province of Helmand Thursday, pushing south to take control of Taliban strongholds ahead of August 20 presidential elections.

Insurgents have been behind several kidnappings in Afghanistan and have killed some of their hostages.

There are around 56,000 US soldiers operating in Afghanistan, according to Pentagon figures, in the biggest deployment from one country helping to fight an insurgency led by the Taliban, with other Islamist factions involved.

France 24 | Taliban claim to have captured US soldier | France 24

 

[Ratus Ratus]

May his God be with him and he returns safely.

Not a good situation.

 

[I-G]

U.S. soldier sold to Afghan militant clan, official says

From Barbara Starr
CNN
KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- An American soldier captured in southeastern Afghanistan is being held by a notorious militant clan, a senior U.S. military official said.

the American and three Afghan soldiers were captured by low-level militants and then quickly "sold" to the clan led by warlord Siraj Haqqani -- believed to be deeply involved in the action.

The Haqqanis operate on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and are well known to the U.S. military. They are assembling shuras, or local councils of leaders, to talk and try to "legitimize" what they have done, the official said.

U.S., Afghan and Pakistani troops are sealing off the area and also are talking to tribal chiefs, village elders and leaders.

They are telling them to "do the right thing and solve this," the official said.

The U.S. military is telling people not to let Haqqani operatives move through their area and to find the American and return him. The military wants to make sure there is "no shelter" for the militants holding him.

"We want to make sure there is no place to hide," the official said.

The Taliban had claimed responsibility for the capture of the four soldiers.

The U.S. soldier visited a military post in the Yousaf Khel district in the Paktika province and got drunk, Taliban commander Mulvi Sangeen said. He was ambushed while returning to his car and was taken to a safe place, Sangeen said.

CNN could not independently verify Sangeen's claims.

A source with the U.S. military denied the claim that the soldier was drunk.

"The Taliban are known for lying and what they are claiming are not true," the source said.

The soldier's family has been informed, the military said

U.S. soldier sold to Afghan militant clan, official says - CNN.com