'Amerikanen gevangengenomen in Afghanistan'

[Lex]

NATO: 2 American troops missing in Afghanistan

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 taken hostage by the Taliban.

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.

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.

"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 Paktika province of eastern Afghanistan. He has since appeared on videos posted on Taliban websites confirming his captivity.

AP,
24th july 2010 11:14am EDT

[Lex]

KABUL - Twee Amerikaanse militairen zijn in Afghanistan door strijders van de extremistische Taliban gevangengenomen. Zegslieden van de Taliban hebben dit zaterdag laten weten.

De buitenlandse troepenmacht ISAF in het sinds de jaren zeventig door geweld geplaagde land, heeft nog niet op de mededeling gereageerd.

In de streek waar de twee militairen door de Taliban zouden zijn overmeesterd, de provincie Logar even ten zuiden van Kabul, hebben de Amerikaanse autoriteiten volgens een plaatselijk radiostation 20.000 dollar beloning uitgeloofd voor de terugkeer van de twee soldaten.

Zaterdag kwamen in het zuiden van Afghanistan vijf Amerikaanse militairen om het leven als gevolg van aanslagen met bermbommen.

Doodsoorzaak

Sinds het begin van het jaar zijn al bijna vierhonderd buitenlandse militairen gesneuveld in Afghanistan. Meer dan 250 van hen kwamen uit de VS.

Geïmproviseerde explosieven zoals bermbommen, veelal geplaatst door de Taliban, zijn doodsoorzaak nummer één van buitenlandse militairen in Afghanistan, aldus legerfunctionarissen.

© ANP 
Uitgegeven: 24 juli 2010 16:26