Taliban claims soldier kidnapped, executed
A major search is underway for a British soldier missing in southern Afghanistan. According to an Afghan National Army general, the soldier had left his base in Nahr-e Saraj district with two Afghan National Army soldiers to go swimming in a nearby river, and the two soldiers noticed he was missing a while later. However, a conflicting report says he was ‘delivered’ to Taliban leaders by Afghan troops. A Taliban spokesman has instead said the soldier was captured during a firefight, and that Taliban members killed him when the fighting intensified. Britain’s Ministry of Defence declined to comment on the Taliban’s claims.