One missing US trooper dead, other captured

The Taliban have offered to exchange the body of a US Navy member they said was killed in an ambush two days ago in exchange for insurgent prisoners, an Afghan official said yesterday.
US and Nato officials confirmed that two American Navy personnel went missing Friday in the eastern province of Logar, after an armoured sports utility vehicle was seen driving into a Taliban-held area.
In a telephone interview yesterday with The Associated Press, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the pair drove into an area under insurgent control, prompting a brief gunfight in which one American was killed and the other was captured. He said both were taken to a "safe area" and "are in the hands of the Taliban."
Mujahid made no mention of any offer to exchange the pair for Taliban prisoners. A local Afghan officials said the Taliban sent a message through intermediaries offering to hand over the body in exchange for jailed insurgents.
Abdul Wali, the head of the provincial governing council, said local authorities responded by saying, "Let's talk about the one that is still alive." The insurgents said they would have to talk to superiors before making any deal.
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. If you have any information about this solider, kindly contact the Logar Joint Coordination Center," run by coalition and Afghan forces. A phone number is listed along with information about a $20,000 reward being offered for information leading to their location.
The photographs show one clean-shaven sailor wearing a soft cap and another with short-cropped hair, wearing a blue civilian shirt and a white undershirt.
"Last night coalition helicopters were flying patrols," said Din Mohammed Darkish, spokesman for the provincial governor of Logar. "Our latest, accurate information reports are that they are still in the area."
He said the governor's office was upset because the two Americans left their base without notifying Afghan security forces in Logar.
"Normally, when Americans are leaving, they inform our security forces. This was an abnormal situation," Darwesh said.
Earlier yesterday, Muhajid, the Taliban spokesman, told the AP that he had no information about US sailors in Taliban hands. He said he would look into the reports. He claimed responsibility in a subsequent conversation.
That suggested that the Friday attack was a spur-of-the-moment move and that the militants are trying to figure out what to do about it.