Taliban Claim to Have 'Drunk' US Captive; 7 Soldiers Killed

(NEWSER) - The Taliban says it will execute a captured American soldier if the US does not withdraw from two districts in southeastern Afghanistan, the Voice of America reports. A Taliban rep said today the soldier is healthy but will be killed if operations in Paktika and Ghazni continue. The fate of the soldier, whom the military has classified as "believed captured," will be decided by Taliban leader Mullah Omar, the AP adds. More»

(NEWSER) - The Taliban's capture of an American soldier in Afghanistan is old news for some residents of his hometown, but they kept quiet out of concern for his safety, the AP reports. The family of Bowe R. Bergdahl asked neighbors and other community members in Hailey, Idaho, not to discuss his situation publicly—a request they honored for weeks. The Pentagon released his name over the weekend after a Taliban video surfaced online. More»

(NEWSER) - The war in Afghanistan is getting deadlier for both coalition troops and Afghan forces, reports James Dao in the New York Times, mostly because of an increase in homemade bomb attacks—465 in May alone. The IEDs—improvised explosive devices—are getting more sophisticated as well as more common, and are spread through the country via a complex network of bombmakers and distributors. The Pentagon is sending thousands of robots, dogs, and IED-resistant vehicles—but also targeting the networks themselves. More»

(NEWSER) - Military officials believe that a US soldier who’s been missing since Tuesday has been captured by the Taliban, the Washington Post reports. The soldier appears to have walked off base into an unsecured area for reasons that remain unclear. Today, the Taliban’s Haqqani faction claimed to have captured him, along with his three Afghan guards. The military declined to release further information, fearing it would further endanger the soldier. More»

Hillary Clinton calls incident possible war crime

(NEWSER) - Investigators have identified the four Marines shown in a video apparently urinating on Taliban corpses, and they could be charged today, CBS News reports. The military has interviewed at least two of the men on the matter as officials scramble to address its fallout. "Anyone, anyone found to have participated or know about it, having engaged in such conduct, must be held fully accountable," said Hillary Clinton yesterday, calling the incident a potential war crime. All four were members of a sniper team in a unit that lost seven members in action last summer in Afghanistan. More»