25 on manhunt hurt in Afghanistan
Search continues for 2 US soldiers
KABUL, Afghanistan - More than 25 members of international and Afghan security forces were injured yesterday in fierce fighting in northwest Afghanistan while carrying out a large-scale manhunt for two missing American soldiers, military officials said.
The two paratroopers from the Fourth Brigade Combat Team, 82d Airborne Division disappeared Wednesday during a routine resupply mission, the military said in a statement.
The military provided no further details on the disappearance, and neither NATO nor Afghan officials immediately explained how their forces got into the firefight.
Such disappearances are rare. The last time an American service member went missing in Afghanistan was in June, when Private First Class Bowe R. Bergdahl was captured after straying from a US base near the eastern border with Pakistan. On July 18, Taliban insurgents released a video of the 23-year-old soldier from Idaho. He has not been found.
Afghan officials indicated that it was unlikely that the two other missing Americans had been captured.
The Afghan western regional police chief said a helicopter with NATO had been dropping food supplies in the Bala Murghab district of Badghis province when some of the boxes ended up in a river. He said the missing soldiers were swept away by strong currents when they tried to retrieve the food.
“We are doing everything we can to find them,’’ said Navy Captain Jane Campbell, a spokeswoman for the coalition.
