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25 troops hurt in hunt for 2 soldiers
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Published: November 7, 2009
KABUL
Two American soldiers disappeared in western Afghanistan after a routine resupply mission, and more than 25 NATO and Afghan security forces members were wounded during the search mission for them, the alliance said yesterday.
Officials indicated that it was unlikely that the two missing had been taken captive.
NATO forces headquarters in Afghanistan said that the two paratroopers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, went missing on Wednesday.
During the search for them, more than 25 NATO and Afghan national security-forces members were wounded, said Lt. Col. Todd Breasseale, a NATO spokesman.
"Initial reports indicate they were wounded due to insurgent activity," Breasseale said.
He could not say how many of the wounded were Afghan and how many were NATO, nor was the nationality of the NATO soldiers released.
The wounded were being treated in a coalition forces facility in Afghanistan, the alliance said in a statement.
Local police said that the two were Americans who were swept away by a river in the western province of Badghis.
NATO did not specify where the incident took place, or provide any details of the mission.
Military officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to command policy, indicated that they did not suspect the case was similar to that of a U.S. soldier who was captured by insurgents in eastern Afghanistan on June 30.
"We continue exhaustive search and rescue operations to locate our missing service members," spokeswoman Navy Capt. Jane Campbell said in the NATO statement. "We are doing everything we can to find them."
Western regional police Chief Gen. Ikram Uddin Yawar said that two American soldiers were swept away by a river while trying to save two boxes that had fallen into the water while being airdropped during a resupply mission in the Bala Murghab district of Badghis province.
The deputy police chief of Badghis province, Abdul Jabar, said that a helicopter had airdropped food parcels at a coalition base, but that strong winds had blown one box into the river and that two soldiers had been swept away by strong currents while trying to recover the parcel. He said that Afghan police had been helping coalition forces in the search Thursday and yesterday but had been unable to find the two soldiers.
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