Click here for latest information.
UPDATE:
Afghan and NATO-led troops have found the body of one of the U.S. Sailors and operation for rescuing the other is going on, spokesman for provincial administration Deen Mohammad Darvesh said Monday.
"The body was found from Nawshahr village in Charkh district on Sunday afternoon," Darvesh told Xinhua News. Also, 12 suspected insurgents had been arrested.
When U.S. Joint Chief of Staff, Admiral Mike Muller was asked about the news, he said, "If you are receiving that ahead of what I have seen, I would only say it is certainly our intent to focus, to do all we can, to return to American hands anyone that has been captured or killed."
Troops are stopping vehicles at checkpoints to search for two missing sailors in the Logar province.
The men left their base in the Afghan capital, Kabul, Friday, without notifying Afghan security forces in Logar and there is no explanation why the sailors were in Logar.
A four-wheel drive armored sports utility vehicle was seen Friday night by a guard working for the district chief's office. "The guard tried to flag down the vehicle, carrying a driver and a passenger, but it kept going," said Samer Gul, the chief of Logar's Charkh district.
"The Taliban saw them in the bazaar. They didn't touch them in the bazaar, but notified other Taliban that a four-wheel vehicle was coming their way." The second group of Taliban tried to stop the vehicle, but when it didn't, insurgents opened fire and the occupants in the vehicle shot back.
The Taliban say that one of the men was killed in an ambush and want to exchange his body for insurgent prisoners, according to an Afghan official.
A Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told reporters that the men drove into an area under insurgent control. There was a gunfight and one American was killed and the the captured by the Taliban.
U.S Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, said he would not comment on the Taliban claim that one American was killed and the other was captured. He said there was a tremendous amount of effort looking for the men. The military would "Do all we can" to return the sailors.
Missing sailors in Afghanistan
Comments
Sailors , unless Hospital Corpsmen assigned to a Marine detachment (FMF) aren't usually found in such shore settings....Were they Mobile Construction Battalion (Sea Bee), etc.?.
Maybe they were SEALs?
x
There are over 12,000 Sailors on the ground supporting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; more sailors on the ground than afloat in the area. They have been doing this for the last 5 years or so. It is a total effort by all the services... not what you would expect from your Sailors. They serve the nation in whatever manner asked of them.
There are many "ratings" they could be. Navy has the best Spec Ops, these wars are IED wars. Navy has the best EOD for that. Seabees to rebuild all we blow up. Quantamo Bay is a navy base....lost of bad guys there. Navy runs that too.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!