US soldier found alive after 6 days evading Taleba

[arben]

A UNITED States special forces soldier missing for six days in Afghanistan has been rescued, US sources said yesterday.

The soldier was among six who disappeared in the east of the country, prompting a massive search during which a US helicopter was shot down.

CNN last night reported a US official as saying that the soldier had been found and was in good condition.

The official was quoted as saying the rescued soldier had "evaded the enemy".

The search continued yesterday for the rest of the missing troops, with US aircraft blasting militant positions in eastern Afghanistan.

Elsewhere, a pro-government Islamic scholar died after being shot near the southern city of Kandahar, the second such attack in just over a month, as Taleban militants stepped up violence aimed at derailing parliamentary elections planned for 18 September.

In the east, US aircraft bombarded militant positions on a mountain between the Nangalam and Shorai areas of Kunar, the province where the squad of American soldiers has been missing since Tuesday.

Hundreds of American and Afghan troops have been searching for the US reconnaissance team that went missing just before a US helicopter carrying 16 special forces troops to their aid was shot down, killing all aboard.

It was the biggest single combat blow for US forces in Afghanistan since they overthrew the Taleban in 2001.

The New York Times quoted an unidentified senior Pentagon official as saying that the missing team numbered about half a dozen soldiers. The last contact with them had been on Tuesday and the lack of radio contact since then was worrying, he said.

US spokesmen say they have no reason to believe that the men have been killed or captured - contrary to Taleban claims - but militants in the area, bad weather and mountainous, wooded terrain have hampered the search.

On Friday, a US spokesman, Colonel Jim Yonts, said he could neither confirm nor deny a claim by the Taleban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi that insurgents had killed seven US "spies" before the helicopter was shot down.

On Friday, Mr Hakimi, whose information has often proved unreliable, said militants in Kunar had captured a US soldier on Wednesday who had been aboard the helicopter when it crashed.

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[__Kratos__]

I wonder where the rest of his unit is, and why he broke away from them? Hopefully they are all alright.

[arben]

2nd U.S. Serviceman Found in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan - A second member of a missing elite U.S. military team has been found and Afghan forces were trying to reach the remote area where he has taken shelter, a provincial governor said Monday. The comments came a day after the announcement that one of the American service members who disappeared last week had been rescued. A U.S. military spokesman said only that American forces were still in the area searching for the missing men.

Source

This is great news indeed. I hope they find the rest of the team