Taliban: 1 US Sailor Dead, 1 Captured

The Taliban have offered to exchange the body of a US sailor they said was killed in an ambush two days ago for insurgent prisoners, an Afghan official said today. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said one American sailor was killed and the other was captured in a gunfight after the pair drove into insurgent-controlled territory. He said both were taken to a "safe area" and "are in the hands of the Taliban."

Mujahid made no mention of any offer to exchange the pair for Taliban prisoners. The two left their compound in Kabul Friday afternoon but never returned, NATO said, offering no explanation why the sailors were in Logar. "Normally, when Americans are leaving, they inform our security forces. This was an abnormal situation," said a provincial spokesman. The only US servicemember known to be in Taliban captivity is Spc. Bowe Bergdahl. (More Taliban stories.)