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U.S. soldier captured in east Afghanistan

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The Washington Post

Published: July 3, 2009

A U.S. soldier discovered missing Thursday from a small outpost in eastern Afghanistan is thought to have been captured by Taliban militants when he walked away from his base, military officials said.

The soldier's absence was discovered when he did not show up for morning formation.

The military declined to identify the soldier or the group holding him and said the militants had not made any direct contact with military officials.

A member of the Taliban linked to insurgent leader Sirajuddin Haqqani in Pakistan said that the soldier is in the custody of insurgents from the Haqqani network who are operating on the Afghan side of the border.

The Taliban fighter, interviewed by telephone, said the kidnapping was carried out by Maulvi Sangeen, an Afghan commander linked to Haqqani.

Agence France-Presse quoted a Haqqani leader as saying his militia had captured the soldier in the Yousuf Khail district of Paktika province near Pakistan.

"Our leaders have not decided on the fate of this soldier," the AFP quoted the Haqqani commander as saying. "They will decide on his fate, and soon we will present videotapes of the coalition soldier and our demand to media."

A military official said the region where the soldier is held "is pretty boxed in, with not a lot of room to maneuver" for the captors. The goal is to prevent kidnappers from moving him.

The United States has accused Haqqani of masterminding beheadings and suicide bombings, including the July 2008 attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul that killed 60 people.

The soldier was not part of the assault launched by a Marine brigade on Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan on Thursday. He is serving in an Army infantry unit, and his family has been notified he is missing.

The unit was assigned to a combat outpost, one of a number of smaller bases set up by foreign forces in Afghanistan.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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