ISAF searching for missing soldier in Afghan south

The International Security Assistance Force has announced that a search is underway for a soldier who has gone missing in southern Afghanistan. ISAF has not announced the nationality or name of the soldier, nor has it detailed the circumstances behind the soldier’s disappearance. The soldier is British, according to the Associated Press. The Taliban claimed he was captured and then killed during a firefight in Helmand. The full text of the ISAF press release:

An International Security Assistance Force service member has been listed as duty status whereabouts unknown in southern Afghanistan.

There is an active search effort in progress.

It is ISAF policy to defer identification procedures of missing service members to the relevant national authorities.

There is currently one US solider who is in Taliban custody. Specialist Bowe Bergdahl was captured by the Haqqani Network in June 2009 in Paktika province. The Taliban have released several propaganda tapes of Bergdahl since his capture.

Updated:

The Brits have recovered the body of the missing soldier. From the Ministry of Defence website:

It is with sadness that the Ministry of Defence must announce that a soldier from The Highlanders, 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (4 SCOTS), was killed in Afghanistan today, Monday 4 July 2011.

The soldier was reported missing from an ISAF Check Point in the early hours of the morning and was later found dead following an extensive search of the area.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

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5 Comments

  • Brian Scott says:

    glad to see a pro-Mil-Industrial Complex blog break the embargo on mentioning Bergdahl.

  • Bill Roggio says:

    Brian Scott,
    Are you really, really sure about that? Your ignorance is on display for all to see. Try searching the site, you will easily be proven wrong. Here is the search results for the full site:
    http://www.google.com/cse?cx=009927973363742841759%3Ada00dj7x75m&ie=UTF-8&q=bergdahl&sa=Search
    In fact, we’ve even published the Taliban videos of Bowe Bergdahl, and took some heat for doing so in the process:
    https://www.longwarjournal.org/videos/2009/12/taliban_tape_of_pfc_bowe_bergd.php
    Thanks for dropping by. If there is anything else you’d like to share with us, please don’t hesitate.

  • Mr T says:

    What does that mean captured and killed? Did the Taliban cpature the guy and then kill an unarmed prisoner? Where is the outrage around the world? That sounds a lot worse than torture which riled up people around the world.
    How about murder of unarmed prisoners? What an outrageous double standard from people who can’t seem to figure out what side they are on.

  • JayR says:

    Maybe theres a scarcity of information because no one is sure if he’s a prisoner of war, or a “line crosser”. There are questions about how he “wandered” away from his base into the hands of the Muhajadeen

  • Render says:

    How often does the anti-Mil-Leftist Complex mention Gilad Shalit?
    Yeah, that’s what I thought…
    WANNA
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