Afghan government: Taliban kills 1 U.S. sailor, 1 held

Afghan government: Taliban kills 1 U.S. sailor, 1 held
Insurgents offer to exchange body of one serviceman for militant prisoners

KABUL — The Taliban have offered to exchange the body of a U.S. Navy member they said was killed in an ambush two days ago in exchange for insurgent prisoners, an Afghan official said Sunday.
U.S. and NATO officials confirmed that two American Navy personnel went missing Friday in the eastern province of Logar, after an armored sports utility vehicle was seen driving into a Taliban-held area. Afghan officials believe one was killed and the other captured when they apparently took a wrong turn and ended up in a dangerous area of Logar.
Abdul Wali, the head of the provincial governing council, said local authorities responded to the Taliban offer 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.
Local media in Logar reported the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on the two Americans. Both Afghan and NATO officials told The Associated Press they have not been directly contacted by the insurgents. The Taliban demand came through intermediaries, Wali said.
The Taliban have an efficient public relations system and usually quickly call international and local media after attacks to claim responsibility. However, Taliban spokesmen have not responded to multiple calls from the AP seeking comment on the missing pair.
Friday's attack appeared to be spur of the moment, making it likely the militants are trying to decide how to spin the incident.
A NATO official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of search operations, confirmed the two were Navy personnel, but would not identify their unit to avoid jeopardizing search operations. The official said it was unclear what the two were doing or what would lead them to leave their compound. The official would not say whether the two were on official business. The pair drove an armored civilian sport utility vehicle and Darwish told the Times they wore civilian clothes.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed his group abducted the two men and took two cameras and two assault rifles, according to Xinhua news agency.
Search launched Vehicles and helicopters were dispatched to search for the two in Charkh district of southern Logar province — about a two-hour drive south of Kabul, said district chief Samer Gul.
Offers of a $20,000 reward for information leading to the sailors' return were broadcast on local radio.
U.S. military officials said the sailors' vehicle was found in Logar Province, just south of Kabul, with no immediate indication that either was killed — no bullet holes or blood inside. The vehicle had been stripped of all of its equipment.
“The area is very bad in terms of security,” Darwish told The New York Times.
Elsewhere, five U.S. troops died in separate bombings in the south, setting July on course to become the deadliest month of the nearly 9-year war for Americans.
Rising casualties are eroding support for the war even as President Barack Obama has sent thousands of reinforcements to try to turn back the Taliban, who would have a leg up in the propaganda war with the capture of two U.S. troops.
A NATO official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of search operations, confirmed the two were Navy personnel, but would not identify their unit to avoid jeopardizing search operations. The official said it was unclear what the two were doing or what would lead them to leave their compound. The official would not say whether the two were on official business.
Vehicle attacked after bazaar stop 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.
"Maybe they wanted to go to Paktia province or to the American base, but they came down the wrong road toward Charkh," Gul said. "They didn't pay any attention to the police. Otherwise we could have kept them from going into an insecure area and now this unfortunate incident has happened."
The only U.S. service member known to be in Taliban captivity is Spc. Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho, who disappeared June 30, 2009 in neighboring Paktika province, an area heavily infiltrated by the Haqqani network, which has deep links to al-Qaida. He has since appeared on videos posted on Taliban websites confirming his captivity.
New York Times reporter David Rohde was also kidnapped in Logar province while trying to make contact with a Taliban commander. He and an Afghan colleague escaped in June 2009 after seven months in captivity, most of it spent in Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistan.
Mohammad Nasir Medaruz, director of a radio station in Logar called Meli Pegham, or "National Message," said he had received a phone call from coalition officials asking that he broadcast a message offering $10,000 for information about the whereabouts of each missing service member.
"I told them that Logar is not a safe area and if I broadcast that, I could get attacked," Medaruz said.
He said that if the military officials paid him, he would broadcast the information and say that it was an "advertisement."
He said he did not broadcast the information, but another radio station, sponsored by the military in Logar, did air the message.
On Saturday in the same district in Logar, the manager of an Afghan construction company and his driver were kidnapped, according to spokesman Darwesh. The two Afghans captured worked with Afghan Korean Construction Co., he said.
The five American troops died in roadside bombings in the south — four in a single blast. A fifth service member was killed in a separate attack in the south where international forces are stepping up the fight against the insurgents.
The latest deaths brought to 75 the number of international troops killed in Afghanistan this month, including 56 Americans. Many of the deaths have occurred in the south where Afghan and NATO forces are ramping up operations against the Taliban in their southern strongholds, hoping to enable the Afghan government to expand its control in the volatile region.
On Tuesday, an international conference in Kabul endorsed President Hamid Karzai's plan for Afghan security forces to assume responsibility for protecting the country by the end of 2014. Obama has pledged to begin removing U.S. troops starting in July 2011, although he has linked the drawdown to security conditions on the ground.
NBC News' Courtney Kube and The Associated Press contributed to this report.