NATO Are Soldiers Misssing as Taliban Reports Recovery of Two Bodies

KABUL — Two NATO soldiers are missing in western Afghanistan, and an intensive search mission is under way, a spokesman for the international forces announced here Friday, as a Taliban spokesman said fighters had recovered the bodies of two drowned soldiers.

The soldiers were on a routine resupply mission on Nov. 4, but did not return as expected. When soldiers are missing, the concern is that they have either been captured or killed.

“We continue exhaustive search and rescue operations to locate our missing service members. We are doing everything we can to find them,” said Capt. Jane Campbell of the United States Navy, a spokeswoman for the international forces. Another spokesman for the international forces declined to give further details.

The Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, speaking by telephone, told the Reuters new agency that the bodies of the drowned soldiers had been recovered on Wednesday in the western Badghis Province.

Reuters also reported that the province’s police chief, Abdul Jabar, said the two were Americans and that they had drowned during a gunbattle

The last time a soldier was reported missing was June 30 in eastern Afghanistan. Weeks, later, the Taliban posted a 28-minute video on jihadist Web sites in which the soldier, Bowe R. Bergdahl, identified himself and said he was captured when he lagged behind on a patrol. There has been no public word on his status since.

NATO also announced the death of three troops, including two American soldiers who died after two roadside bomb attacks in southern Afghanistan on Thursday.
NYT