2 US Sailors Captured By Taliban
 

Taliban spokesman: 1 missing US service member dead, other captured by insurgents

Published July 25, 2010
| Associated Press


KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban have offered to exchange the body of a U.S. Navy member they said was killed in an ambush two days ago in exchange for insurgent prisoners, an Afghan official said Sunday.

U.S. and NATO officials confirmed that two American Navy personnel went missing Friday in the eastern province of Logar, after an armored sports utility vehicle was seen driving into a Taliban-held area.

In a telephone interview Sunday with The Associated Press, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the pair drove into an area under insurgent control, prompting a brief gunfight in which one American was killed and the other was captured. He said both were taken to a "safe area" and "are in the hands of the Taliban."

Mujahid made no mention of any offer to exchange the pair for Taliban prisoners. A local Afghan officials said the Taliban sent a message through intermediaries offering to hand over the body in exchange for jailed insurgents.

Abdul Wali, the head of the provincial governing council, said local authorities responded by saying, "Let's talk about the one that is still alive." The insurgents said they would have to talk to superiors before making any deal.

Hundreds of posters of the two missing sailors have been hung at checkpoints throughout Logar province where NATO troops are stopping vehicles, searching people, peering inside windows and searching trunks.

The posters, with photographs of the missing sailors, state: "This American troop is missing. He was last seen in a white Land Cruiser vehicle. If you have any information about this solider, kindly contact the Logar Joint Coordination Center," run by coalition and Afghan forces. A phone number is listed along with information about a $20,000 reward being offered for information leading to their location.

The photographs show one clean-shaven sailor wearing a soft cap and another with short-cropped hair, wearing a blue civilian shirt and a white undershirt.

"Last night coalition helicopters were flying patrols," said Din Mohammed Darkish, spokesman for the provincial governor of Logar. "Our latest, accurate information reports are that they are still in the area."

He said the governor's office was upset because the two Americans left their base without notifying Afghan security forces in Logar.

"Normally, when Americans are leaving, they inform our security forces. This was an abnormal situation," Darwesh said.

Earlier Sunday, Muhajid, the Taliban spokesman, told the AP that he had no information about U.S. sailors in Taliban hands. He said he would look into the reports. He claimed responsibility in a subsequent conversation.

That suggested that the Friday attack was a spur-of-the-moment move and that the militants are trying to figure out what to do about it.

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

A NATO official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the event, 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.

Samer Gul, the chief of Logar's Charkh district, said 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.

Gul said there is a well-paved road that leads into the Taliban area and suggested the Americans may have mistaken that for the main highway — which is much older and more dilapidated

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 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.

Also, Saturday night in Logar, Afghan and coalition security forces detained two suspected insurgents in a clearing operation, NATO said Sunday. It was unclear whether the operation was directly tied to the search for the two missing sailors.

In the northeast, meanwhile, insurgents recaptured a remote district of Nuristan province that has bounced between government and Taliban control in recent months.

Afghan police retreated from Barg-e-Matal before dawn Sunday after days of heavy fighting in which at least five officers were killed, said Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary.

"The pressure of the attack was heavy on them," Bashary said. He said they pulled back in order to prevent further casualties and were planning a counteroffensive from an area close to the district.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/07...ush-prisoners/

Navy Personnel Captured
 

Source

The battlefield is no place for amateurs. Sounds like these guys didn't have a clue.

Lost sailors
 

They might of been going to Baghram, and took a wrong turn.

Noslack

That's exactly what happened to the 507th Maintenance Company in Iraq with tragic consequences - 11 KIA, 5 WIA, 7 captured, 6 had to evade after the ambush and 10 vehicles destroyed. They fought back but their weapons jammed because they weren't properly maintained. While they fought honorably, they were put in a situation they couldn't handle due to amatuerish leadership.

GL,

Thats exactly what happens when your lead by inexperience leaders...........:( What ever happen to those guys from the 507th Maintenance Company? :confused: Never recalled hearing about this until now!...........:(

Big Teddy :munchin

507th
 

Attack on the 507th Maintenance Company

http://www.army.mil/features/507thMa...7MaintCmpy.pdf

more at

http://www.army.mil/features/507thMaintCmpy/

Jeezz, over 7 years ago.

Why are sailors stationed in Afghanistan? Are they Seals? What other Naval personnel would be in Afghanistan? There may be good reasons for not answering these questions but I'm surprised the media has not addressed them in anything I have read.

Corpsman/Medics

So Navy medics support Marine or Army units in the field?

I recommend google, or the search engine of your choice for these questions.

TR

I read one news article that stated the two missing sailors were Seabees.

The current thrust to get EVERYONE involved in the action has some downsides.

A lot of these kids are thrown into combat slots when they traditionally would never make it to the beach.

I understand the need to get fresh bodies involved. This party is some 10 years in the making and everyone in the combat arms are getting a little stressed.

But they need to rethink the EVERYONE is a Combat Soldier line.

It's surprising that this type of Self-effecting Spontaneous Darwin Award isn't a daily happening..

God look over the one that is still alive.. :mad::mad::mad::mad:

I pray that he makes it back.

There are thousands and thousands of service members from every branch of the military in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I believe these guys were part of a PRT, digging wells and building schools and what not. The whole situation does not make a lot of sense, how many vehicles were in this convoy? Just the one? Two Navy guys rolling down to the bazaar in a Land Cruiser is definitely not SOP. I hope that they make it home.