By IANS,
London : Hundreds of soldiers were Monday engaged in a search for a British soldier who has been kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, Daily Mail reported.
The unnamed man was seized during a fierce gun battle with insurgents Sunday evening in the Babaji area of southern Helmand of Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed that the captured soldier was British and his family has been informed.
“An International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) service member has been listed as duty status – whereabouts unknown – in southern Afghanistan,” ISAF said in a statement, adding that a search has been launched for the soldier.
According to a Taliban spokesman, they had captured the soldier Sunday and executed him in Helmand’s Babaji area.
“The soldier was captured yesterday evening during a firefight. When the fighting got more intense we couldn’t keep him so we had to kill him,” Qari Mohammad Yousuf, the spokesman, said over telephone.
However, the claim could not be independently verified and an ISAF spokesman declined to comment.
Most of the troops in southern Afghanistan are American and British. However, soldiers from other countries also operate in the southern region.
One soldier from the foreign contingent in Afghanistan is believed to be in captivity.