24-07-10 US soldiers captured in Afghanistan,claims Taliban

There are conflicting reports about the fate of two US soldiers missing in eastern Afghanistan.The soldiers,who went missing this morning,are apparently being held in Logar province,south-east of the capital,Kabul,according to a Taliban official.But Samer Gul,the district chief of Charkh district in Logar province,said one of the men may have been killed.He added the two men had ignored warnings and set out on their own from their base in Kabul yesterday evening into a known Taliban-held area."They didn't pay any attention to the police.Otherwise we could have kept them from going into an insecure area and now this unfortunate incident has happened," he said.Local radio broadcast appeals offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to the safe release of the two men,Reuters reported."Early this morning,two coalition personnel went missing.They are believed to have been captured by insurgents somewhere in Logar province," the news agency quoted the broadcaster as saying."They may have been separated from one another or maybe in the process of being moved to another location."Coalition forces are offering $20,000 (£13,000) reward for any information that leads to the successful return of these two."The radio report said the two men,who both have tattoos,were last seen wearing standard US military camouflage.One was described as about 6ft tall,weighing 220lb with blond hair and brown eyes,and the other was described as 190lb,bald with a thin moustache.