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NATO recovers body of missing sailor in Afghanistan Eds: Adds comments from head of regional council, details

Other News Materials 27 July 2010 20:24 (UTC +04:00)
Taliban and provincial officials said one of the men was killed during a firefight and the other was captured as the Taliban stopped their four-wheel-vehicle in Charkh district of the province.
NATO recovers body of missing sailor in Afghanistan Eds: Adds comments from head of regional council, details

NATO forces had recovered the body of one of two US sailors who went missing in eastern Afghanistan last week, while the search to find the second was continuing, officials said Tuesday, dpa reported

The two Navy troops went missing on Friday after they drove into a rebel-controlled area of the central province of Logar close to the capital, Kabul.

Taliban and provincial officials said one of the men was killed during a firefight and the other was captured as the Taliban stopped their four-wheel-vehicle in Charkh district of the province.

The military said it was continuing the search efforts.

Abdul Hakim Sulaimankhel, head of the provincial council of Logar said that besides an "intensive search," the local elders in the province had also begun talks with the kidnappers to have the sailor released "without the use of force."

The Taliban had demanded the release of comrades jailed in Afghan government and coalition prisons in return for the hostage, Sulaimankhel said, but did not elaborate.

Afghan and NATO troops killed one insurgent and detained several others during two separate operations in Logar's Charkh and Baraki Barak districts which began on Monday, according to a statement issued by the alliance military in Kabul.

The combined forces also discovered and destroyed a large cache of weapons, it said.

The US has around 90,000 troops in Afghanistan, with 10,000 more expected to arrive in August. Around 50,000 troops from other NATO and non-NATO nations are also based in the country.

The Taliban have held another US soldier for more than a year. Bowe Bergdahl was captured in eastern Afghanistan when he left his unit in June 2009. The hostage has appeared in several Taliban videos, the last one of which was released in April.

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