International forces in Afghanistan launched a huge manhunt after a British soldier went missing on Monday in one of the most dangerous parts of the war-torn country. Afghan police in the southern province of Helmand, where mostly American and British troops are fighting the Taliban insurgency, said a British soldier had been kidnapped in the Gereshk area of Nahri Sarraj district. The Briton’s disappearance in one of the deadliest battlegrounds in a 10-year insurgency spotlights the deep insecurity in the country as the United States prepares to start withdrawing 33,000 troops.
NATO announced that one of its International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldiers had gone missing, before London identified the soldier as British and said an “extensive operation” had been launched to locate him. The Taliban claimed that its fighters had kidnapped and killed a British soldier in Helmand, but there was no independent confirmation and the militia is known to routinely exaggerate its claims.
