MSNBC----
Insurgents have captured an American soldier in eastern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said Thursday.
Spokeswoman Capt. Elizabeth Mathias said the soldier went missing on Tuesday.
"We are using all of our resources to find him and provide for his safe return," Mathias said
Mathias said the missing GI's identity was not being released to "protect the soldier's well-being."
There were conflicting reports about details of the soldier's disappearance.
An Afghan police official said the soldier went missing in the Mullakheil area of the eastern Paktika province. Gen. Nabi Mullakheil said there is an American base in the area.
Earlier, NBC News reported that the Taliban claimed to have captured three U.S. soldiers in the eastern province of Khost. The claim could not be verified.
Khost and Paktika are adjacent to each other and share a border with Pakistan.
NBC News reported that a representative of the Taliban contacted the U.S. military in Afghanistan and provided details of the soldier's identity.
The enlisted soldier's family has been notified, NBC News reported.
A myriad of insurgent groups operate in eastern Afghanistan, and the Taliban is only one of them.
The news broke as thousands of U.S. Marines launched a major anti-Taliban offensive in southern Afghanistan. The missing soldier was not part of that operation.
Thousands of U.S. Marines and hundreds of Afghan troops poured into Taliban-infested villages with armor and helicopters in the first major operation under President Barack Obama's strategy to stabilize the country.
The offensive started shortly after 1 a.m. local time in Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold and the world's largest opium poppy producing area. The goal is to clear insurgents from the hotly contested region before the nation's Aug. 20 presidential election.
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Sources: MSNBC, TIME, Google Maps
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