Taliban threatens to kill U.S. soldier

KABUL, Afghanistan - Local Taliban commanders threatened yesterday to kill a captured American soldier unless the U.S. military stops operations in two districts of southeastern Afghanistan.

Abdullah Jalali, a spokesman for Taliban commander Mawlavi Sangin, told the Associated Press that the soldier was healthy. He said the soldier would be killed unless the United States stopped air strikes in Ghazni province's Giro district and Paktika province's Khoshamand district.

Jalali said the final decision on the soldier's fate would be made by Taliban leader Mullah Omar.

A U.S. spokeswoman, Capt. Elizabeth Mathias, declined to comment on the demands but said recent operations in Giro district this month did not involve bombings. Neither district is in Helmand province, where Marines are conducting the largest U.S. military operation in Afghanistan since the Taliban was toppled in 2001.

The U.S. military has said the soldier was noticed missing during a routine check of the unit on June 30 and was "believed captured." The Taliban said on its Web site July 6 that it was holding the soldier, but it did not elaborate on his whereabouts, nor did it provide any proof such as a photo.

The U.S. military has said it intercepted communications in which insurgents talked about holding an American.

The soldier's body armor and weapon were found on the base, and U.S. defense sources say he "just walked off" post with three Afghans after work. They say they have no explanation for why he left the base. The military has not identified the soldier but say his family has been notified that he is missing.

President Obama ordered 21,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan this year to curb a resurgent Taliban that threatens not only the U.S.-backed Kabul government but also Afghanistan's nuclear-armed neighbor, Pakistan. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said that the United States might send more troops to Afghanistan than had been planned but that he would wait to hear from Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander in the region, before making a decision.

Separately, the Pentagon said it was considering a plan to add 30,000 soldiers to the Army to bolster a force depleted by a number of wounded, stressed, and other soldiers who cannot serve in combat areas. With wars on two fronts, the Army said it needed a temporary increase to fill vacancies in units heading to the battlefront.

The 547,000-member active-duty force was beefed up by 65,000 in recent years, but military leaders say it has not been enough to make up for the roughly 30,000 soldiers who - at any one time - are injured, pregnant, suffering from post-traumatic stress or health problems, or have been assigned to other jobs.

Military leaders have been warning Congress that the problem has been getting worse, as the number of soldiers unable to return to the battlefield has increased by as much as 3,000 in the last several years, according to Gen. Pete Chiarelli, the Army's vice chief of staff.

According to the Army, 13 percent of the personnel in a typical unit heading to war are not available, compared with 11 percent previously.

Roughly 9,400 soldiers are in "warrior transition units," with physical or stress-related injuries. An additional 10,000 are unavailable because of other, less serious injuries, and 10,000 have been tapped for other duties or have just returned from the battlefront. Gates said he planned to decide as early as next week whether to approve the temporary boost.