US soldier captured in Afghan

[dangerousdave]

breaking news......

US soldier captured in eastern Afghanistan, say military officials

more to follow

 

[box-of-frogs]

Poor sod.

 

[Fallschirmjager]

God be with him.

What will God do for him?

 

[Bumper]

two of ours also killed,

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/TwoSoldiersKilledInHelmand.htm

 

[milsum]

God be with him.

Which one

 

[Bumper]

KABUL (AP) — US military spokeswoman says insurgents have captured an American soldier in eastern Afghanistan.

Capt. Elizabeth Mathias said the soldier has been missing since Tuesday. She said she could not provide further information.

Mathias said the military was using "all our resources to find him and provide for his safe return."

The soldier was not taking part in the major military operation launched in the southern Taliban stronghold of Helmand early Thursday.

 

[Fallschirmjager]

Get him out alive? Replace God for 'luck' or 'The Paras' if required.

Sadly I think the poor bloke won't be seeing home again. RIP.

 

[Bumper]

By Heather Langan

July 2 (Bloomberg) -- The Afghan Taliban said it captured a
U.S. soldier, Agence France-Presse reported.

 

[gloworm]

God be with him.

Which one

Do you really have to ask?

Fingers crossed for a happy ending or if not...a quick one

GW

 

[sawdogxix]

A f*cking nightmare scenario for any NATO/alliance soldier caught by the Taliban, RIP.

 

[gloworm]

A f*cking nightmare scenario for any NATO soldier caught by the Taliban, RIP.

A million to one chance is still a chance sawdogxix

 

[gloworm]

Milsum, apologies, I think these came in out of turn which made me read it out of context. A costly week.

 

[PoisonDwarf]

God be with him.

Which one

Do you really have to ask?

Eh? Whether you are jewish, christian, islamist, there's only one sky fairy. He just has a different style of beard depending upon your family culture.

 

[Goatman]

God be with him.

Which one

ALL of them........if lighting a candle to Mars and Minerva would do the trick - whose got the matches?

Two ways to look at this - fingers crossed for a swift release either way.

My thoughts and prayers with the soldier, and his family and colleagues.

Don Cabra
--

 

[HamburgerHill_69]

Lets hope for a miracle.. can't see it happening though.

 

[ostvic]

This might provide some background
Coalition strikes at Haqqani Network in eastern Afghanistan
By Bill RoggioJune 30, 2009 9:34 AM

US and Afghan forces have stepped up attacks against the Haqqani Network in eastern Afghanistan over the past several days. More than a dozen fighters have been killed and 21 more were captured, including a commander, during airstrikes and raids since June 27.

The US military reported that "more than a dozen militants" were killed during a series of airstrikes against "a pair of command bunkers" in a mountainous region in Khost province near the border of Pakistan.



http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/06/coalition_strikes_at.php

 

[sawdogxix]

A f*cking nightmare scenario for any NATO soldier caught by the Taliban, RIP.

A million to one chance is still a chance sawdogxix

I hope so!!

 

[Bumper]

The US military said the Taliban was believed to have captured the soldier, who has been missing since Tuesday, in the south-eastern Afghan province of Paktika.

Mullah Sangon, a local Taliban commander, said that besides the US soldier, the militants had also captured three Afghan
troops.

An Afghan police official said the soldier went missing during the day Tuesday in the Mullakheil area of eastern Paktika province. Gen. Nabi Mullakheil said there is an American base in the area.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

(Although it did say he wasn't part of main attack - curious event in that case. Perhaps was part of log. chain which would be a target for attack to weaken the sustainability of the US attack.)

I don't think it's anything to with the Helmand Op. It's in the E, so it'll be Army rather than USMC, and most likely Haqqani network or HIG rather than Taliban.

Either way, it's not good. RIP.

 

[ostvic]

Just a little more background information on US ops in Eastern Afghanistan


On the Afghanistan frontier, change may be at hand
A U.S. troop buildup and Pakistan's military offensive are beginning to put a squeeze on Taliban insurgents.
By Laura King
July 2, 2009
Forward Operating Base Salerno, Afghanistan -- In the enveloping darkness of a starless summer night, the sizzle-thump of incoming Taliban rockets is swiftly answered by the percussive boom of outgoing U.S. artillery. But the American troops manning this base in eastern Afghanistan know that their elusive nighttime foe can slip away to sanctuary in Pakistan, just 20 miles away.

The militants firing rockets at this installation, informally known as Camp Salerno, in all likelihood traveled here from Pakistan's tribal areas, home turf of several major Taliban commanders and their militias. The flow of fighters and arms into Afghanistan from Pakistan -- and the tribal belt's use as a fighter haven -- has long been a key concern of U.S. and other Western officials.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-afghan-border-war2-2009jul02,0,618652.story