Kabul, July 17: The Taliban threatened to kill a captured American soldier unless the US military stops operations in two districts of southeastern Afghanistan.
The Taliban said last week they were holding the soldier, who the US military earlier described as possibly being in enemy hands.
Abdullah Jalali, a spokesman for Taliban commander Mawlavi Sangin, said in a phone interview the soldier was healthy.
He said the soldier would be killed unless the US stops airstrikes in Ghazni province’s Giro district and Paktika province’s Khoshamand district. Still, Jalali said the final decision about the soldier’s fate will be made by Taliban leader Mullah Omar.
Jalali said Giro has been heavily bombed by international troops but did not otherwise explain why they chose those areas.
The US military said the soldier was noticed missing during a routine check of the unit on June 30 and he was “believed captured”.
The Taliban confirmed on its website on July 6 that it was holding the soldier.
“Five days ago, a drunken American soldier who had come out of his garrison named Malakh, was captured by mujahedeen … He is still with mujahedeen,” said the report.
The short online message did not elaborate on his whereabouts or their plans for him, nor did it provide any proof.
The US military earlier said it intercepted communications in which insurgents talked about holding an American. His body armour and weapon were found on the base, and US defence sources said the soldier “just walked off” post with three Afghans after work.
-Agencies