Two US nationals seized by Taliban - reports

Two US nationals seized by Taliban - reports

www.bbc.co.uk

Two US nationals have been captured by Taliban insurgents in eastern Afghanistan, reports say.

They say the Americans were seized in Logar province after an exchange of fire with the militants.

A spokesman for the provincial governor told the BBC that the men were armed civilians. Some media reports suggested they were soldiers.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Not much info on this as yet as the story is still breaking. No official comments have been made by the U.S military as yet.

I'll update this post when there's more info. Apparently there's a reward offered but this is about all that is known up to now.

People might have bad feelings towards America in relation to waterboarding e.c.t but I'll tell you I'd still rather be a prisoner of the U.S than of the Taliban.

www.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

From the BBC

The spokesman for the Logar governor said the two men had ignored warnings and set out on their own from their base on Friday evening into a known Taliban-held area.

After an exchange of gunfire the two were captured.

One unconfirmed report later said that one of the captived had been killed.

The MSNBC story reads

Afghan insurgents captured two U.S. soldiers and are holding them in southern Logar province, a Taliban official said on Saturday.

A NATO official confirmed that two U.S. service members are missing in eastern Afghanistan.

source

The story also says there was a third man captured but he died.

Might not agree with them being there but they are serving their country and i feel for their families.

A western soldier captured by the Taliban has virtually no chance of survival. I just hope those bastards don't behead them.

Originally posted by jonny2410
Might not agree with them being there but they are serving their country and i feel for their families.

I make that at least three US Soldiers now being held by the Afghan insurgents.

Originally posted by jonny2410
A western soldier captured by the Taliban has virtually no chance of survival.

Don't be too quick to rush to conclusions.

As late as April, US Soldier Private Bowe Bergdahl, who was captured in June 2009, was still confirmed to be alive according to a video of him that was released.

Article here:

Taliban release new video of captured US soldier

The Afghan insurgents want a prisoner swap: Bergdahl for prisoners held by the US.

If that pattern is repeated with the latest soldiers captured, they may be used in an attempt at getting a prisoner swap as well.

[edit on 24-7-2010 by Regensturm]

These aren't soldiers. It's highly likely they are PMCs. Exchanging "fire," which allegedly they don't do Other option is CIA or CIA operatives.

If they're near the Pakistani border...well this ties in nicely to something we were just discussing in another thread about Pakistan being a tinderbox for some "incident" getting this adminstration further involved in Afghanistan, which will NOT happen barring some such occurrence. (Prediction.)

[edit on 7/24/2010 by ~Lucidity]

Originally posted by jonny2410
Might not agree with them being there but they are serving their country and i feel for their families.

A western soldier captured by the Taliban has virtually no chance of survival. I just hope those bastards don't behead them.

I bet if the Taliban came to your country you wouldn't say the same about their families right?

And I bet the captured Taliban in US wouldn't have much survival rate also.

The story has changed a couple times now, retracting descriptions of the two men, and now, saying they are in the Navy.

Two U.S. Navy service members disappeared in a dangerous area of eastern Afghanistan, prompting a massive air and ground search and appeals on local radio stations for their safe return, NATO and Afghan officials said Saturday.

source

[edit on 24-7-2010 by Icarus Rising]

Originally posted by Icarus Rising
The story has changed a couple times now, retracting descriptions of the two men, and now, saying they are in the Navy.

Two U.S. Navy service members disappeared in a dangerous area of eastern Afghanistan, prompting a massive air and ground search and appeals on local radio stations for their safe return, NATO and Afghan officials said Saturday.

source

[edit on 24-7-2010 by Icarus Rising]

They are panicing, it is bad enough that soldiers are dying everyday for a useless cause, and now they are being captured, which gives the resistance the upper hand, because this will stirr Western population.

reply to post by oozyism


In America they would go to trial, not be beheaded on television. After a trial, depending on their crimes, they would serve their sentences, again, no beheading.

Originally posted by space cadet
reply to post by oozyism

 

In America they would go to trial, not be beheaded on television. After a trial, depending on their crimes, they would serve their sentences, again, no beheading.

If they won't try prisoners in a stable condition (hence Guantanamo prisoners are held with no charge), how do you expect them to try prisoners in a state of chaos?

Think, think, think.

It makes your brain get stronger.

So it turns out they're sailors from the US Navy? There was another thread somewhere earlier...

Originally posted by ~Lucidity
So it turns out they're sailors from the US Navy? There was another thread somewhere earlier...

I've not found anything stating that, just that they are "two US Service Personnel".

But if true that they are from the US Navy, Near the border with the Pakistan?

Well in consideration of the fact there are reports US Special Forces are operating in Pakistan....

US Navy SEALS?

[edit on 25-7-2010 by Regensturm]

Well, this is disturbing. More service members taken captive to join Army Specialist, Bowe Berghdal. Some have speculated that these men could have been Special Forces? I hope they are not. It would be a severe black mark against the US military and operational security in Afghanistan. Plus, it would be a rallying cry for the insurgents. They would go into the villages boasting about the capture of elite US Special Operations forces. This will give them ammunition for their recruiting efforts.

I found another article about this incident and what may have happened leading up to the capture of these two US Navy sailors.

2 US Navy service members missing in Afghanistan

Gul, the district chief in Charkh, said that 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.

Four wheeled drive armored Sports Utility Vehicle? That would indicate these two sailors may be of importance? We remember from Iraq that diplomats, the CIA, Special Ops, and contractors often used these vehicles for transportation. With the security situation deteriorating in Southern Logar Province, why did they choose to travel by road and in a vehicle that has the hallmarks of importance? To put things into perspective, 5 US service members where victims of hostilities on the very same day and in the same region.

5 U.S. troops die in bombings

Five American service members died Saturday in bombings in southern Afghanistan . . .

This is area is no playground. Yet these two sailor chose to venture outside the wire in an SUV without protection by Marines or Army regulars? It does not make sense and now the Taliban has just gained an ace in their hands for their propaganda purposes. I shall be watching this one closely.

So, the news report today reads: one captured, one dead in the exchange of gunfire leading to the capture, both Navy personnel, both still missing.

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.

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.

source

Originally posted by space cadet
reply to post by oozyism

 

In America they would go to trial, not be beheaded on television. After a trial, depending on their crimes, they would serve their sentences, again, no beheading.

The entire concept of the US "arresting" enemy soldiers and sending them to "trial" for "warcrimes" is a joke. These are people fighting for their country, in their country. What the hell gives the US the right to capture their enemies, drag them back to the US and give them persecution under US laws?

US doesn't own the world and they shouldn't cry when a handful of their soldiers/mercs get captured while the US continues to detain thousands of freedom fighters for no reason other than to disorganize resistance to their occupation.

The remains of the sailor killed in this incident have been recovered and he has been tentatively identified.

One of two U.S. sailors missing in Afghanistan since last week has been confirmed dead and his body recovered, a NATO spokesman said Tuesday.

Jim Kerr, a Colorado legislator from the south-Denver suburb of Littleton, said the Navy sailor killed was his wife's nephew, Justin McNeley, 30. Kerr told The Denver Post that McNeley, a non-commissioned officer and father of two sons, was due to return to the U.S. in August.

source

It remains unexplained why these two sailors left their compound in an armored suv and ventured into Logar province. It seems what is clear, as a result, is two boys are without a father and another family grieves its loss.

reply to post by Icarus Rising


Thanks for the update! At least we have a name of one the sailors involved in this incident. I feel bad for Mr. McNeeley's family and his two sons who are now fatherless. War is not fair I can't help but to question why these two men where sent out of the wire in a volatile area without a security blanket? An armed escort by regular army or the marines. I talk about that in my previous post.

These two men might have been en-route for Pakistan and are Naval Intelligence or Special Ops? The province borders Pakistan. It is no mystery to anyone that the US is operating covertly there at the present moment. If it was a black op, why allow them to travel in an SUV and in something that is thought of as the crown jewel of military targets by the insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan? Majority of these vehicles carry diplomats, politicians, intelligence assets, and contractors. It is only obvious that the enemy would target this vehicle as it seemed to have been traveling unprotected.

I would like to know who on their base gave the order for these men to go on a suicide mission? Someone needs to fry for this one. I don't how how high they are on the chain of command or what their name is? It is pure insanity that these men were sent into on of the hottest areas in Afghanistan with merely small arms for protection, and no armored escort of any kind. Thanks for the update!

The second sailor's body has been found.

A second U.S. Navy sailor who went missing in a dangerous part of eastern Afghanistan was found dead and his body recovered, a senior U.S. military official and Afghan officials said Thursday.

The family of Petty Officer 3rd Class Jarod Newlove, a 25-year-old from the Seattle area, had been notified of his death, the U.S. military official said on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorized to disclose the information.

The sailors were instructors at a counterinsurgency school for Afghan security forces...

source

None of this makes any sense. Its almost as if these two sailors decided on the spur of the moment they needed to go do something. It must have been urgent. Going out alone, at night, in a hostile area. What were they thinking? They apparently had weapons with them. Was it a situation involving one of their students at the couterinsurgency training center? We will probably never know. Tragic.