The U.S. military has said it intercepted communications in which insurgents talked about holding an American.
In this image made available by the Ministry of Defence in London, Thursday July 16, 2009, a door...
In this image made available by the Ministry of Defence in London, Thursday July 16, 2009, a door gunner on a Royal Air Force Chinook helicopter, scans the ground during a resupply of ground troops during Operation Panther's Claw in Afghanistan's Helmand province, Monday July 13, 2009. It is hoped that the operation will clear and secure the Malgir and Babaji areas of insurgents, in order to set the conditions for the forthcoming Afghan elections in August. Over 700 British troops are involved in the operation, intimately supported by 300 personnel from the Afghan National Security Force.(AP Photo/Sergeant Dan Harmer, Royal Logistic Corps, MOD, ho)
(AP)
The soldier's body armor and weapon were found on the base, and U.S. defense sources say he "just walked off" post with three Afghans after work. They say they have no explanation for why he left the base.
The military has not identified the soldier but say his family has been notified that he is missing. He is serving in an Army infantry unit assigned to a combat outpost, one of a number of smaller bases set up by foreign forces in Afghanistan.
The Canadian soldier was killed at dawn Thursday in the Panjwayi district of Kandahar, the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban, according to a statement issued by Canadian defense authorities in Canada. The previous deadliest months for the international force were June and August of 2008, when 46 foreign troops died.
U.S. commanders had been expecting higher casualties since President Barack Obama ordered 21,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan this year to curb a resurgent Taliban that threatens not only the U.S.-backed Kabul government but also Afghanistan's nuclear-armed neighbor, Pakistan.
About 57,000 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan, and the number is expected to rise to at least 68,000 by the end of 2009.
On Thursday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the U.S. could send more troops to Afghanistan than had been planned. Gates told soldiers at Fort Drum in upstate New York that he's waiting to see what the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan — Gen. Stanley McChrystal — says he needs at the end of a review next week before making a decision.
Meanwhile, the governor of Kandahar province announced that four civilians were killed and 13 wounded in an airstrike on a village in Shawalikot district on Thursday. A previous statement had said six civilians were killed.
Wounded villagers at a hospital in the provincial capital told AP that attack helicopters started bombarding their homes at about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. One man said his 3-year-old granddaughter was killed.
