ianstone
07-25-2010, 01:26 PM
Insurgents offer to exchange body of U.S. sailor after military vehicle took a wrong turn into Taliban-held area
By Mail Foreign Service (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Mail+Foreign+Service)
Last updated at 12:11 PM on 25th July 2010
Comments (7) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1297472/Insurgents-offer-exchange-body-U-S-sailor-military-vehicle-took-wrong-turn-Taliban-held-area.html#comments)
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Taliban insurgents have offered to exchange the body of a U.S. Navy member they claim was killed in an ambush for prisoners, an Afghan official said today.
U.S. and Nato officials confirmed that two American Navy personnel went missing on Friday in the eastern province of Logar, after they apparently took a wrong turn and ended up in a dangerous Taliban-held area.
Afghan officials believe one was killed and the other captured after their armoured sports utility vehicle was seen driving in the area.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/07/25/article-1297472-0A8ED228000005DC-846_468x286.jpg Ambush: One U.S. Navy sailor is believed to have been killed and another captured after the vehicle they were in took a wrong turn in Logar (file picture)
Reports in Logar said the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on the two Americans.
The two sailors left their compound in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Friday afternoon but never returned.
More...
U.S. withdraws 'pain ray'; - which blasts enemy with unbearable heat waves - from Afghan war zone (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1297361/US-withdraws-pain-ray-Afghan-war-zone.html)
A massive air and ground search was launched and Nato made appeals on local radio stations offering rewards for information leading to their return.
A Nato official confirmed the two were Navy personnel, but would not identify their unit to avoid jeopardising search operations.
The official added it was unclear what the two were doing or what would lead them to leave their compound.
Samer Gul, chief of Logar's Charkh district, said a four-wheel drive armoured sports utility vehicle was seen on Friday night by a guard working for the district chief's office.
The guard tried to flag down the vehicle, but it kept going.
'They stopped in the main bazaar of 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 insurgents tried to stop the vehicle, but when the driver refused opened fire. The occupants in the vehicle are believed to have returned fire.
Abdul Wali, head of the provincial governing council, said: 'Charkh district is very dangerous. No government officials or employees are willing to go to that area.'
He said there is a well-paved road that goes in the direction of Charkh and it is possible the Americans mistook it for the main highway.
The only U.S. service member known to be in Taliban captivity is Bowe Bergdahl, of Hailey, Idaho, who disappeared on June 30, 2009, in the neighbouring Paktika province. The area is heavily infiltrated by the Haqqani network, which has links to Al Qaeda.
He 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 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.
Comments (7)
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Sailors _ armoured SUV ?
Be better to send in the SAS, the US special forces didn't do too well here.
Better still take lessons from Israel and stop messing around, capture one of ours and we lay waste to square kilometres until revenge is satisfied !!
- T, UK, 25/7/2010 16:17
What is the SAS going to do? Watch them kidnap old people?
These weren't special forces.
The US Navy performs 3 missions from their base in Kabul. They've got helicopter missions using the SeaHawk helicopters (Navy version of the BlackHawk), they've got aircraft missions using an array of aircraft, and they've got a hospital there.
Odds are, the sailors in question were either mechanics, or nurses.
- John, Dallas, Texas, 25/7/2010 16:53
Click to rate (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1297472/Insurgents-offer-exchange-body-U-S-sailor-military-vehicle-took-wrong-turn-Taliban-held-area.html#) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1297472/Insurgents-offer-exchange-body-U-S-sailor-military-vehicle-took-wrong-turn-Taliban-held-area.html#) Rating 1
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Another young life wasted trying to fight an unwinnable war and defending athe most corrupt government in the world at present..GET THE TROOPS OUT OF THERE BEFORE MORE LIVES ARE LOST.
- Booth, Dublin,Ireland, 25/7/2010 16:32
Click to rate (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1297472/Insurgents-offer-exchange-body-U-S-sailor-military-vehicle-took-wrong-turn-Taliban-held-area.html#) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1297472/Insurgents-offer-exchange-body-U-S-sailor-military-vehicle-took-wrong-turn-Taliban-held-area.html#) Rating 18
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Sailors _ armoured SUV ?
Be better to send in the SAS, the US special forces didn't do too well here.
Better still take lessons from Israel and stop messing around, capture one of ours and we lay waste to square kilometres until revenge is satisfied !!
- T, UK, 25/7/2010 16:17
Click to rate (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1297472/Insurgents-offer-exchange-body-U-S-sailor-military-vehicle-took-wrong-turn-Taliban-held-area.html#) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1297472/Insurgents-offer-exchange-body-U-S-sailor-military-vehicle-took-wrong-turn-Taliban-held-area.html#) Rating 16
Report abuse (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/reportAbuseInComment.html?articleId=1297472&commentId=24893281)
The Afghans will get a good price for them .. Dead or Alive, .. The Afghans are winning and can afford to hold out for as long as it takes.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1297472/Insurgents-offer-exchange-body-U-S-sailor-military-vehicle-took-wrong-turn-Taliban-held-area.html#ixzz0uiS7X5wH
By Mail Foreign Service (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Mail+Foreign+Service)
Last updated at 12:11 PM on 25th July 2010
Comments (7) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1297472/Insurgents-offer-exchange-body-U-S-sailor-military-vehicle-took-wrong-turn-Taliban-held-area.html#comments)
Add to My Stories (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1297472/Insurgents-offer-exchange-body-U-S-sailor-military-vehicle-took-wrong-turn-Taliban-held-area.html)
Taliban insurgents have offered to exchange the body of a U.S. Navy member they claim was killed in an ambush for prisoners, an Afghan official said today.
U.S. and Nato officials confirmed that two American Navy personnel went missing on Friday in the eastern province of Logar, after they apparently took a wrong turn and ended up in a dangerous Taliban-held area.
Afghan officials believe one was killed and the other captured after their armoured sports utility vehicle was seen driving in the area.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/07/25/article-1297472-0A8ED228000005DC-846_468x286.jpg Ambush: One U.S. Navy sailor is believed to have been killed and another captured after the vehicle they were in took a wrong turn in Logar (file picture)
Reports in Logar said the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on the two Americans.
The two sailors left their compound in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Friday afternoon but never returned.
More...
U.S. withdraws 'pain ray'; - which blasts enemy with unbearable heat waves - from Afghan war zone (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1297361/US-withdraws-pain-ray-Afghan-war-zone.html)
A massive air and ground search was launched and Nato made appeals on local radio stations offering rewards for information leading to their return.
A Nato official confirmed the two were Navy personnel, but would not identify their unit to avoid jeopardising search operations.
The official added it was unclear what the two were doing or what would lead them to leave their compound.
Samer Gul, chief of Logar's Charkh district, said a four-wheel drive armoured sports utility vehicle was seen on Friday night by a guard working for the district chief's office.
The guard tried to flag down the vehicle, but it kept going.
'They stopped in the main bazaar of 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 insurgents tried to stop the vehicle, but when the driver refused opened fire. The occupants in the vehicle are believed to have returned fire.
Abdul Wali, head of the provincial governing council, said: 'Charkh district is very dangerous. No government officials or employees are willing to go to that area.'
He said there is a well-paved road that goes in the direction of Charkh and it is possible the Americans mistook it for the main highway.
The only U.S. service member known to be in Taliban captivity is Bowe Bergdahl, of Hailey, Idaho, who disappeared on June 30, 2009, in the neighbouring Paktika province. The area is heavily infiltrated by the Haqqani network, which has links to Al Qaeda.
He 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 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.
Comments (7)
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below, or debate this issue live on our message boards. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/index.html)
The comments below have been moderated in advance.
View all
Sailors _ armoured SUV ?
Be better to send in the SAS, the US special forces didn't do too well here.
Better still take lessons from Israel and stop messing around, capture one of ours and we lay waste to square kilometres until revenge is satisfied !!
- T, UK, 25/7/2010 16:17
What is the SAS going to do? Watch them kidnap old people?
These weren't special forces.
The US Navy performs 3 missions from their base in Kabul. They've got helicopter missions using the SeaHawk helicopters (Navy version of the BlackHawk), they've got aircraft missions using an array of aircraft, and they've got a hospital there.
Odds are, the sailors in question were either mechanics, or nurses.
- John, Dallas, Texas, 25/7/2010 16:53
Click to rate (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1297472/Insurgents-offer-exchange-body-U-S-sailor-military-vehicle-took-wrong-turn-Taliban-held-area.html#) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1297472/Insurgents-offer-exchange-body-U-S-sailor-military-vehicle-took-wrong-turn-Taliban-held-area.html#) Rating 1
Report abuse (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/reportAbuseInComment.html?articleId=1297472&commentId=24893610)
Another young life wasted trying to fight an unwinnable war and defending athe most corrupt government in the world at present..GET THE TROOPS OUT OF THERE BEFORE MORE LIVES ARE LOST.
- Booth, Dublin,Ireland, 25/7/2010 16:32
Click to rate (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1297472/Insurgents-offer-exchange-body-U-S-sailor-military-vehicle-took-wrong-turn-Taliban-held-area.html#) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1297472/Insurgents-offer-exchange-body-U-S-sailor-military-vehicle-took-wrong-turn-Taliban-held-area.html#) Rating 18
Report abuse (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/reportAbuseInComment.html?articleId=1297472&commentId=24893488)
Sailors _ armoured SUV ?
Be better to send in the SAS, the US special forces didn't do too well here.
Better still take lessons from Israel and stop messing around, capture one of ours and we lay waste to square kilometres until revenge is satisfied !!
- T, UK, 25/7/2010 16:17
Click to rate (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1297472/Insurgents-offer-exchange-body-U-S-sailor-military-vehicle-took-wrong-turn-Taliban-held-area.html#) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1297472/Insurgents-offer-exchange-body-U-S-sailor-military-vehicle-took-wrong-turn-Taliban-held-area.html#) Rating 16
Report abuse (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/reportAbuseInComment.html?articleId=1297472&commentId=24893281)
The Afghans will get a good price for them .. Dead or Alive, .. The Afghans are winning and can afford to hold out for as long as it takes.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1297472/Insurgents-offer-exchange-body-U-S-sailor-military-vehicle-took-wrong-turn-Taliban-held-area.html#ixzz0uiS7X5wH