Massive Afghan Search On for US MIA

There's an American missing after an ambush in Afghanistan.

Allied forces have begun a widespread search for two US servicemen who went missing in Afghanistan on Friday, reportedly snatched by the Taliban.

A spokesman for the insurgents said one of the Americans had been killed in a gunfight, but the other was being held.

The Taliban claims could not be verified independently. Military officials have released few details.

In a local radio broadcast, the US had earlier offered $20,000 for information.

Allied forces have been using helicopters and troops on the ground to search for the men.

AFP quoted a Taliban fighter called Zabihullah Mujahid as saying the surviving serviceman and his dead colleague had been taken to a 'safe location'.

And apparently there's an exchange offer floating around out there.

The Taliban have offered to exchange the body of a U.S. Navy sailor they said was killed in an ambush two days ago in exchange for insurgent prisoners, an Afghan official said Sunday.

U.S. and NATO officials confirmed that two American Navy personnel went missing Friday in the eastern province of Logar, after an armored sports utility vehicle was seen driving into a Taliban-held area.

In a telephone interview Sunday with The Associated Press, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the pair drove into an area under insurgent control, prompting a brief gunfight in which one American was killed and the other was captured. He said both were taken to a 'safe area' and 'are in the hands of the Taliban.'

By: Brant