Update4- missing sailor is a cook, KIA was a hull repairman both were IA's

[bobdina]

2 American troops missing in eastern Afghanistan

By ROBERT H. REID
The Associated Press
Saturday, July 24, 2010; 11:32 AM

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Two U.S. troops are missing in eastern Afghanistan, a military official said Saturday. An Afghan official said one may have been killed and the other captured by the Taliban.

Also, five American troops died Saturday in bombings in the south where international forces are stepping up the fight against the insurgents.

A NATO statement Saturday said the two service members left their compound the previous day in Kabul but did not return.

The statement did not identify the pair by nationality but U.S. officials said they were American.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

The military has dispatched vehicles and rotary-winged aircraft to search for them and their vehicle.

Samer Gul, district chief of Charkh district in Logar province, said Saturday that a four-wheel drive armored 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, Gul said.

"They stopped in the main bazaar of Charkh district. The Taliban saw them in the bazaar," Gul said. "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 two occupants in the vehicle shot back, he said.

NATO said a search is under way for the missing service members. According to Gul, one may have been killed and the other taken hostage by the Taliban.
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"Maybe they wanted to go to Paktia province or to the American base, but they came down the wrong road toward Charkh," Gul said. "They didn't pay any attention to the police. Otherwise we could have kept them from going into an insecure area and now this unfortunate incident has happened."

Military officials could not confirm the district chief's account.
The only U.S. service member known to be in Taliban captivity is Spc. Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho who disappeared June 30, 2009 in Paktika province of eastern Afghanistan. He has since appeared on videos posted on Taliban websites confirming his captivity.

Mohammad Nasir Medaruz, director of radio station in Logar called Meli Pegham, or "national message," said he received a phone call from coalition officials who asked that he broadcast a message offering $10,000 for information about the whereabouts of each missing service member.

"I told them that Logar is not a safe area and if I broadcast that, I could get attacked," Medaruz said.

He said that if the military officials paid him, he would broadcast the information but say that it was an "advertisement."

He said he did not broadcast the information, but another radio station, sponsored by the military in Logar, did air the message.

The five troops died Saturday in roadside bombings - four in a single blast, NATO said in a statement without specifying nationalities nor providing further details. A fifth service member was killed in a separate attack in the south, NATO said.

U.S. officials confirmed all five were Americans. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity under rules regarding casualty identification.

The latest deaths bring to 75 the number of international troops killed in Afghanistan this month, including 56 Americans.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/24/AR2010072400507_2.html

[MickDonalds]

Hold on...since when do "4 wheel drive armored vehicles" get crewed by 2 soldiers? That doesn't make any sense. An armored vehicle always has a gunner (which would make the missing crew 3), unless it's a Tractor or a Troop Carrier/FMTV.

Something about this doesn't make any sense... Methinks the press has some wrong secondhand information.

If there are two missing, God be with them... Help is on the way boys. :(

[ianstone]

May god please be with them and guide them home, please

[bobdina]

2 US Navy service members missing in Afghanistan
AP

*


KABUL, Afghanistan – Two U.S. Navy service members disappeared in a dangerous area of eastern Afghanistan, prompting a massive air and ground search and appeals on local radio stations for their safe return, NATO and Afghan officials said Saturday.

The two left their compound in the Afghan capital, Kabul, in a vehicle Friday afternoon, but never returned, NATO said in a statement. Vehicles and helicopters were dispatched to search for the two, who may have been killed or captured by the Taliban in Charkh district of southern Logar province — about a two-hour drive south of Kabul, said district chief Samer Gul.

Elsewhere, five U.S. troops died in separate bombings in the south, setting July on course to become the deadliest month of the nearly 9-year war for Americans.

Rising casualties are eroding support for the war even as President Barack Obama has sent thousands of reinforcements to try to turn back the Taliban, who would have a leg up in the propaganda war with the capture of two U.S. troops.

A NATO official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of search operations, confirmed the two were Navy personnel, but would not identify their unit to avoid jeopardizing search operations. The official said it was unclear what the two were doing or what would lead them to leave their compound. The official would not say whether the two were on official business.

The Taliban have not contacted the coalition force to claim responsibility or make any demands for their release, the official said.

Gul, the district chief in Charkh, said that 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, Gul said.

"They stopped in the main bazaar of Charkh district. The Taliban saw them in the bazaar," Gul said. "They didn't touch them in the bazaar, but notified other Taliban that a four-wheel vehicle was coming their way."

Click image to see more photos of Afghanistan effort


AP

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, he said.

NATO said a search is under way for the missing service members. According to Gul, one may have been killed and the other taken hostage by the Taliban.

"Maybe they wanted to go to Paktia province or to the American base, but they came down the wrong road toward Charkh," Gul said. "They didn't pay any attention to the police. Otherwise we could have kept them from going into an insecure area and now this unfortunate incident has happened."

The only U.S. service member known to be in Taliban captivity is Spc. Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho, who disappeared June 30, 2009 in neighboring Paktika province, an area heavily infiltrated by the Haqqani network, which has deep links to al-Qaida. He has since appeared on videos posted on Taliban websites confirming his captivity.

New York Times reporter David Rhode was also kidnapped in Logar province while trying to make contact with a Taliban commander. He and an Afghan colleague escaped in June 2009 after seven months in captivity, most of it spent in Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistan.

Mohammad Nasir Medaruz, director of a radio station in Logar called Meli Pegham, or "National Message," said he had received a phone call from coalition officials asking that he broadcast a message offering $10,000 for information about the whereabouts of each missing service member.

"I told them that Logar is not a safe area and if I broadcast that, I could get attacked," Medaruz said.

He said that if the military officials paid him, he would broadcast the information and say that it was an "advertisement."

He said he did not broadcast the information, but another radio station, sponsored by the military in Logar, did air the message.

On Saturday in the same district in Logar, the manager of an Afghan construction company and his driver were kidnapped, according to Din Mohammad Darwesh, spokesman for the governor of Logar province. The two Afghans captured worked with Afghan Korean Construction Co., he said.

The five American troops died in roadside bombings in the south — four in a single blast. A fifth service member was killed in a separate attack in the south where international forces are stepping up the fight against the insurgents.

The latest deaths brought to 75 the number of international troops killed in Afghanistan this month, including 56 Americans. Many of the deaths have occurred in the south where Afghan and NATO forces are ramping up operations against the Taliban in their southern strongholds, hoping to enable the Afghan government to expand its control in the volatile region.

On Tuesday, an international conference in Kabul endorsed President Hamid Karzai's plan for Afghan security forces to assume responsibility for protecting the country by the end of 2014. Obama has pledged to begin removing U.S. troops starting in July 2011, although he has linked the drawdown to security conditions on the ground.

___ Associated Press Writer Rahim Faiez in Kabul contributed to this report.

[ianstone]

Thanks for the update bob, i am, as others worried for there safety.
M.I.A. is a horrid phrase. Lets hope for a safe return.

[MickDonalds]

So now it's a "Sports Utility Vehicle".

Still doesn't seem right. Servicemembers don't just drive SUV's off post, especially only with 2 personnel.

I'm having a hard time buying this. I'm betting it's a couple of contractors working for the Department of the Navy or something similar.

[dmaxx3500]

navy?,,could it have been a couple SEALS?,,but why only 2 ? ,in an suv?,,something an't right

[bobdina]

I highly doubt they were SEALs. I didn't want to put my opinion out there without more facts but my guess is SEABEES going to the Bazaar to stock up and took a wrong turn.

[ianstone]

Man that is some wrong turn, surely they were escorted by someone with local knowledge ?

[ianstone]

The (http://www.cbsnews.com/) latest news that I can find
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http://www.cbsnews.com/images/2009/09/16/image5315169.jpg (http://www.cbsnews.com/afghanistan)

KABUL, Afghanistan, July 24, 2010 2 U.S. Navy Personnel Missing in Afghanistan

Service Members Feared Captured or Killed by Taliban in Logar Province; Coalition Broadcasts Reward Offer for Information


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http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2010/07/24/image6709451g.jpg A November 2009 file photo of U.S. soldiers in Logar province, Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)



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(CBS/AP) Latest Update 4:40 p.m. ET

Two U.S. Navy service members disappeared in a dangerous area of eastern Afghanistan, prompting a massive air and ground search and appeals on local radio stations for their safe return, NATO and Afghan officials said Saturday.

CBS News has learned the two are Navy enlisted men who are involved in training Afghans.

The two left their compound in the Afghan capital, Kabul, in a vehicle Friday afternoon, but never returned, NATO said in a statement.

Vehicles and helicopters were dispatched to search for the two, who may have been killed or captured by the Taliban in Charkh district of southern Logar province, about a two-hour drive south of Kabul, said district chief Samer Gul.

Elsewhere, five U.S. troops died in separate bombings in the south (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/07/24/world/main6708928.shtml), setting July on course to become the deadliest month of the nearly 9-year war for Americans.

Special Section: Afghanistan (http://www.cbsnews.com/afghanistan)

Rising casualties are eroding support for the war even as President Barack Obama has sent thousands of reinforcements to try to turn back the Taliban, who would have a leg up in the propaganda war with the capture of two U.S. troops.

A NATO official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of search operations, confirmed the two were Navy personnel, but would not identify their unit to avoid jeopardizing search operations. The official said it was unclear what the two were doing or what would lead them to leave their compound.

The official would not say whether the two were on official business.

The Taliban have not contacted the coalition force to claim responsibility or make any demands for their release, the official said.

Gul, the district chief in Charkh, said that 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, Gul said.

"They stopped in the main bazaar of Charkh district. The Taliban saw them in the bazaar," Gul said. "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, he said.

NATO said a search is under way for the missing service members. According to Gul, one may have been killed and the other taken hostage by the Taliban.

"Maybe they wanted to go to Paktia province or to the American base, but they came down the wrong road toward Charkh," Gul said. "They didn't pay any attention to the police. Otherwise we could have kept them from going into an insecure area and now this unfortunate incident has happened."

The only U.S. service member known to be in Taliban captivity is Spc. Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho, who disappeared June 30, 2009 in neighboring Paktika province, an area heavily infiltrated by the Haqqani network, which has deep links to al-Qaida. He has since appeared on videos posted on Taliban websites confirming his captivity.

New York Times reporter David Rhode was also kidnapped in Logar province while trying to make contact with a Taliban commander. He and an Afghan colleague escaped in June 2009 after seven months in captivity, most of it spent in Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistan.

Mohammad Nasir Medaruz, director of a radio station in Logar called Meli Pegham, or "National Message," said he had received a phone call from coalition officials asking that he broadcast a message offering $10,000 for information about the whereabouts of each missing service member.

"I told them that Logar is not a safe area and if I broadcast that, I could get attacked," Medaruz said.

He said that if the military officials paid him, he would broadcast the information and say that it was an "advertisement."

He said he did not broadcast the information, but another radio station, sponsored by the military in Logar, did air the message.

On Saturday in the same district in Logar, the manager of an Afghan construction company and his driver were kidnapped, according to Din Mohammad Darwesh, spokesman for the governor of Logar province. The two Afghans captured worked with Afghan Korean Construction Co., he said.

The five American troops died in roadside bombings in the south - four in a single blast. A fifth service member was killed in a separate attack in the south where international forces are stepping up the fight against the insurgents.

The latest deaths brought to 75 the number of international troops killed in Afghanistan this month, including 56 Americans. Many of the deaths have occurred in the south where Afghan and NATO forces are ramping up operations against the Taliban in their southern strongholds, hoping to enable the Afghan government to expand its control in the volatile region.

On Tuesday, an international conference in Kabul endorsed President Hamid Karzai's plan for Afghan security forces to assume responsibility for protecting the country by the end of 2014. Obama has pledged to begin removing U.S. troops starting in July 2011, although he has linked the drawdown to security conditions on the ground.

[bobdina]

NATO: 1 missing sailor killed in Afghanistan
AP


By HEIDI VOGT, Associated Press Writer Heidi Vogt, Associated Press Writer – 3 mins ago

KABUL, Afghanistan – One of two U.S. sailors missing in Afghanistan since last week has been confirmed dead and his body recovered, a NATO spokesman said Tuesday.

The search continues for the other missing sailor, said Lt. Col. Todd Breasseale, a spokesman for NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

The two Navy personnel went missing Friday in the eastern province of Logar, after an armored sport utility vehicle was seen driving into a Taliban-held area. NATO officials were unable to say what they were doing in such a dangerous part of eastern Afghanistan.

The Taliban have said previously that they killed one of the two men in a firefight and captured the other.

Jim Kerr, a Colorado legislator from the Denver suburb of Littleton, said the sailor killed was his wife's nephew, Justin McNeley, 30. He said the family learned of his death Monday. He said McNeley's mother is in Kingman, Arizona, but declined to give her name.

Kerr told The Denver Post that McNeley, a noncommissioned officer and father of two sons, was due to return to the U.S. in August.

The Taliban have said the captured sailor is in a "safe place" where he will not be found.

In a statement, the NATO-led command said the body was recovered Sunday after an extensive search and that the coalition "holds the captors accountable for the safety and proper treatment of our missing service member."

The only other American service member in Taliban captivity is Spc. Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho, who disappeared June 30, 2009, in Paktika province, also in eastern Afghanistan. That area is heavily infiltrated by the Haqqani network, which has deep links to al-Qaida. Bergdahl has since appeared on videos posted on Taliban websites confirming his captivity.

New York Times reporter David Rohde was also kidnapped in Logar province while trying to meet with a Taliban commander. He and an Afghan colleague escaped in June 2009 after seven months in captivity, most of it spent in Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistan.

Hundreds of fliers, with reprinted photos of the two sailors, have been distributed throughout Logar province where NATO troops were stopping vehicles, searching them and those inside. NATO has offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to the surviving sailor's location.

Separately, Britain's Ministry of Defense said Tuesday that a British soldier, who was serving with a task force working to counter homemade bombs, died Monday in a blast in the Sangin district of Helmand province in what may have been a case of "friendly fire."

The ministry said a smoke screen was requested to allow the soldiers to work safely, and "it is believed that one of the smoke shells may have fallen short of its intended target."

In the relatively peaceful northeastern province of Parwan, insurgents killed six Afghan construction workers and kidnapped a government official, NATO said.

The construction workers were driving through Siagerd district Monday when they came under fire from insurgents. Afghan police responded and drove back the militants, who kidnapped the district attorney general as they fled, NATO said.

Taliban insurgents regularly target civilians they see as complicit with the government, including those working on government-funded projects like roads and public buildings.

While the deputy provincial police chief confirmed that the dead were civilians, Faqir Ahmad said they comprised two families driving to nearby Bamiyan province for a vacation. Ahmad said two women and one child were among the dead. He did not have any information on whether there were construction workers involved.

Ahmad said the district official was released the same day through negotiations with insurgents.

Also in the east, a joint Afghan and coalition force captured a midlevel Taliban commander Monday night in Paktika province, NATO said. According to the coalition, the commander operates mainly in Mata Khan, planning bomb attacks on coalition convoys. Ammunition, bomb-making equipment and a bag of Pakistani, Afghan and U.S. cash were found at the scene, NATO said.

In neighboring Paktia province, a joint force carried out multiple precision strikes against a senior commander of the al-Qaida-linked Haqqani network. NATO said it had not yet confirmed the death of the commander, who controls fighter camps in the area and is in regular contact with top Haqqani leadership across the border in Pakistan.

In other violence, the Afghan Interior Ministry said five militants were killed and 10 others were wounded Monday during a joint Afghan and international forces operation in Chardara district of Kunduz province in the north; and four militants were killed as they were planting a roadside bomb in the Arghandab district of Kandahar province in the south. The Afghan Defense Ministry said five militants were killed during a gunbattle with Afghan soldiers Monday in the Muqur district of Ghazni province in the east.

Last edited by bobdina; Today at 11:08 AM.

[MickDonalds]

I hate saying this, but I feel for the POW who's been taken alive. I would never allow myself to be taken alive. I'd do myself if it came down to it.

[ianstone]

We all think that and I agree.
Yet special forces are taught to survive no matter what.
I could not do that, sorry

[Toki]

We all think that and I agree.
Yet special forces are taught to survive no matter what.
I could not do that, sorry

I think I'd rather take my own life than be made a spectacle for my country, used as a propaganda tool, and eventually beheaded.

[ianstone]

Can't deny that point, buddy

[bobdina]

Pentagon IDs missing, killed sailors

By Philip Ewing - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jul 27, 2010 17:45:03 EDT

The Pentagon on Tuesday released the identities of the sailors captured and killed by the Taliban on Friday in Logar province, Afghanistan, after they left the capital, Kabul, for reasons that have not been publicly clear.

Missing is Culinary Specialist 3rd Class Jarod Newlove, 25, of Renton, Wash., a reservist, who is believed to have been abducted by Taliban fighters. Officially he has been listed as “Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown.”

Killed was Hull Maintenance Technician 2nd Class Justin McNeley, 30, of Wheatridge, Colo., from the San Diego-based Assault Craft Unit 1. He died in what is believed to have been an attack on his and Newlove’s armored sport utility vehicle. NATO troops found McNeley’s body on Sunday after a massive search, which included reward posters featuring photographs of both men.

The commanding officer of ACU 1, Cmdr. Andrew Amidon, said in a Navy announcement that McNeley was “a hardworking, dedicated sailor who always sought out tough assignments. He will be missed by all who knew him.”

Newlove and McNeley were stationed in Afghanistan as individual augmentees — pulled from their regular commands to take on supplemental missions with NATO Training Mission Afghanistan in Kabul, said Navy spokesman Lt. Justin Cole. Cole did not have more information about their exact jobs, but sailors on IA duty generally take administrative, training or support jobs that regular ground forces choose not to staff with their own troops.

Navy records were not clear about exactly how long the sailors had been in Afghanistan, but it initially appeared Newlove had been in country since December and McNeley since some earlier point last year.

Pentagon spokesmen would not give details on why Newlove and McNeley might have been driving by themselves outside the wire. Cole said the International Security Assistance Force is still conducting an investigation into what happened.

Only one other American serviceman is known to be a captive of the Taliban: Army Spc. Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho, who went missing last June in Paktika province, in the southeast of Afghanistan.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead released a statement late Tuesday saying “the deepest sympathy of the entire Navy is with the family and friends” of McNeley, and that “We appreciate all the coalition forces have done to bring our shipmate home, and we know they continue to do everything they can in the search for … Newlove. I remain extremely proud of the thousands of U.S. Navy sailors serving on the ground in Afghanistan today, and the tens of thousands who have deployed to Afghanistan during the past nine years.”

According to the latest statistics, released Tuesday, the Navy has 6,500 sailors on the ground in Afghanistan and 2,800 in Iraq.

[bobdina]

I hate saying this, but I feel for the POW who's been taken alive. I would never allow myself to be taken alive. I'd do myself if it came down to it.

I always said that too. My worst nightmare was being knocked out by arty or a grenade and waking up in captivity with no way to escape.

[Reactor-Axe-Man]

I wonder how much training an IA gets before they go over to Iraq or A-stan. My combat training in boot camp consisted of firing 50 rounds of .22LR in a rechambered M1911 (cheaper that way). Plus marching drill with a 'rifle' that had its bolt welded shut and its barrel filled with cement. No hand to hand, no rifle marksmanship, no tactics of any kind. The first real practical firearms drill I got from the Navy was years later, on the boat, with M1911s that actually shot .45ACP, plus a Remington 870 pistol grip shotgun. Once I qual'ed on those weapons, I never shot them again.

It's pretty sad, because sailors used to have to be able to do these things themselves, since many ships and all subs are too small to accommodate a reasonable number of Marines for defensive purposes.

[acf6]

I hear ya Reactor. I shot 50 rds out of the M9 and that was it!!! I know my ex-brother in law went threw 6 weeks of combat training when he went to Iraq with the Seebees. My reserve unit got called up for convoy security just after Iraq was secured, as they said. They went threw 5-6weeks of training before being deployed so hopefully all ground Navy personell get some kind of combat training. RIP to my fellow sailor and god be with the missing brother!!!!

[cormack]

RIP to them brave young men at least they have recovered the bodies

[Toki]

Faggot mother fuckers executed the second sailor. Fuck!