A US soldier is thought to have been captured by militants in eastern Afghanistan, the US military has said.
The soldier is believed to be the first captured in either Iraq or Afghanistan for at least two years.
The US has just begun a major operation against the Taliban in the southern Helmand province, but the captured soldier was not involved in this.
A hardline Taliban faction said it had the soldier but this was not confirmed by the main Taliban spokesman.
The army was using all its resources to find the soldier, who was captured on Tuesday, spokeswoman Capt Elizabeth Mathias said.
Capt Mathias did not provide any details about the soldier or the area of the capture “to protect the soldier’s well-being”.
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says that similar incidents in Iraq were generally perpetrated by al-Qaeda and were likely to end badly, but there are many different Taliban factions in Afghanistan and it is not clear what their demands or aims could be.
At this time of the year the ice in the Afghan Mountains would be thin enough alright, but its still rfeezing at night. Hope fully they are hanging him from the outside of a mountain grave, upside down so the cold blood is flowing to his brain. At least if they don’t cut him up and they send him back he’ll be a retard.
Is that thin enough for ya?
