July 24, 2010 - Two U.S. soldiers were driving an armored sport-utility vehicle in the Logar province Friday when they were allegedly captured in Matinai, a village in the Charkh district in Afghanistan.
According to Logar's governor, Din Mohammad Darwish, the are is “totally under control of the enemy.”
NATO officials reported that on the same day five U.S. troops were killed - four in a single bomb blast in the south, while another died in a separate attack.
The two missing Americans left a compound in Kabul on Friday afternoon and a statement from American-led NATO did not address why they traveled to Logar. A ground and air search is underway in Afghanistan for the two who may have been captured by the Taliban.
The two service members had “departed their compound in Kabul City in a vehicle on Friday afternoon and did not return,” the statement said, adding that troops in military vehicles and helicopters were now searching for them.
A NATO official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, would not say whether the service members’ trip was sanctioned by the military, or whether they had gone somewhere they were not supposed to.
The official did confirm that the two were American military service members, not civilians, nor members of a State Department provincial reconstruction team. But he said he did not know whether they were wearing military uniforms or civilian clothes.
The New York Times reported that the abduction prompted a wide manhunt by the American military, including searches by military helicopters and radio broadcasts of a $20,000 reward for information leading to their return.
Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, called Afghan reporters in Logar on Saturday and told them the militant movement had captured the two Americans and killed one of them, according to an Afghan reporter and the governor’s spokesman.
NATO officials said they cannot confirm the claims of either the Afghan officials or the Taliban.
Death toll
The death toll in July was pushed to 75 soldiers including 56 Americans. June was the deadliest month of the war for NATO troops.
President Obama sent 30,000 new U.S. troops to Afghanistan. Commanders attribute the growing violence to the fact those soldiers are pushing into Taliban strongholds where the coalition previously had a minimal presence. He has vowed to start bringing U.S. soldiers home next year.
What do you think about Obama sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan and his promise to start bringing them home next year? Your comments welcome below.
The Washington Post reported that others say the Taliban has grown stronger by the year and point out that it now controls wide swaths of the country.
Kidnapping of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan are rare; one other American soldier, Spec. Bowe Bergdahl from Idaho, has been held captive since June 2009. More >>
More than 1,000 U.S. soldiers have died in the war in Afghanistan, the Department of Defense said July 23.
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Sources:
Washington Post
NY Times
Comments
What good has Obama done? He barely did anything with the BP spill, and his policy with the Afghan War is totally opposite of his campaign promises. CHANGE!? The only change so far is for the worse.
Vote for bush in 2004 and blame obama for the economy and the war. What could he have done witht he BP problem? swam to the bottom of the gulf with a cork and put it in himself? His campaign shows what he wants to accomplish, but life doesnt let people do whatever they want and they must respond to events with necessary action. Moral idealism vs political realism, these are the facts of the present day and you cant change them no matter how much you want to. We need that oil to produce goods, and other countries need us to have that oil so they can continue to purchase our products. Without it the world economy will definitely fail. This is a must.
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