American Soldier Captured by Afghan Insurgents

UPDATE II: CNN: Abducted US soldier sold to infamous Haqqani clan, a video is believed to be coming soon

UPDATE: CNN: Taliban claim responsibility for kidnapping of American soldier

An American soldier reported missing Tuesday has been confirmed to be captured by insurgents in eastern Afghanistan. Via Fox News:

KABUL — Insurgents have captured an American soldier in eastern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said Thursday.

Spokeswoman Capt. Elizabeth Mathias said the soldier went missing Tuesday.

"We are using all of our resources to find him and provide for his safe return," Mathias said.

Mathias did not provide details on the soldier, the location where he was captured or the circumstances.

"We are not providing further details to protect the soldier's well-being," she said.

An Afghan police official said the soldier went missing during the day Tuesday in the Mullakheil area of eastern Paktika province. Gen. Nabi Mullakheil said there is an American base in the area.

Please pray urgently for the protection and rescue of this soldier. It is not known yet if he is in the hands of the Taliban or one of the many other insurgent groups operating in the region. More updates as they become available.

Crossposted at Pray for the Hostages

Three Years of Captivity for Gilad Shalit

A sad anniversary today as it has been 3 years since Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on the Israel-Gaza border. Via BBC:

Israel is marking three years since Sgt Gilad Shalit, then aged 19, was seized by Palestinian militants in a cross-border raid launched from Gaza.

Indirect talks on his release between Israel and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, have so far been fruitless.

Hamas wants hundreds of Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli jails, while Israel refuses to lift a blockade of Gaza until Sgt Shalit is released.

Human Rights Watch said his detention "may amount to torture".

The international rights group said his captivity was "cruel and inhumane" and called on Hamas to allow him to communicate with his family and receive visits from the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The Israeli rights group B'tselem said Sgt Shalit was legally a hostage, and hostage taking was a violation of international humanitarian law.

Since the 2006 abduction, Gilad's parents have been relentless in seeking assistance in winning his release, meeting with European and American political leaders and even the Pope. Please continue to pray that their love and perseverance will be rewarded when they are blessedly reunited with their long-lost son.

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Gilad Shalit archive

Crossposted at Pray for the Hostages

MV Marathon Released, Crewmember Found Dead

The MV Marathon, a Dutch cargo ship hijacked in May, has been released by its Somali captors, but tragically, one of its crewmembers was found dead and another wounded. Via AFP:

THE HAGUE (AFP) — Somali pirates shot dead a Ukrainian sailor during the hijack of a Dutch ship, the Dutch defence ministry said, adding that rescuers discovered the body when the ship was released Tuesday.

The pirates released the MV Marathon, which had been held since May 7 when the crewman was killed. The Dutch navy found the body when a warship met the vessel after it cleared the Somali coast.

Another of the eight crew members was wounded, ministry spokesman Marcel Pullen told AFP.

Pullen said the man was killed when the pirates took the vessel on May 7 in the Gulf of Aden. "The crew are all Ukrainian. They are all exhausted," he said.

The MV Marathon was being escorted to a "safe port" by the Dutch frigate De Zeven Provincien, the spokesman said, refusing to reveal the location.

The Dutch news agency, ANP, said a ransom was dropped to the pirates by helicopter. The ship's owners, Amons and Company, declined to comment. The Dutch foreign ministry said that its principle was never to negotiate with pirates or pay ransoms.

The murdered sailor was identified as Serhiy Vartenkov, a welder on the ship.

May God console Mr. Vartenkov's family and bring healing and comfort to the freed crewmembers and their families.

Crossposted at Pray for the Hostages

France Not Ready for their Burquas

French President Nicholas Sarkozy condemned the wearing of burquas by Muslim women in France as an insult to their dignity and sense of identity, and is considering a nationwide ban on the garment. Via BBC:

In a major policy speech, he said the burka - a garment covering women from head to toe - reduced them to servitude and undermined their dignity.

Mr Sarkozy also gave his backing to the establishment of a parliamentary commission to look at whether to ban the wearing of burkas in public.

In 2004, France banned the Islamic headscarves in its state schools.

'Not welcome'

"We cannot accept to have in our country women who are prisoners behind netting, cut off from all social life, deprived of identity," Mr Sarkozy told a special session of parliament in Versailles.

"That is not the idea that the French republic has of women's dignity.

"The burka is not a sign of religion, it is a sign of subservience. It will not be welcome on the territory of the French republic," the French president said.

It is ironic that after years of mocking the French as cheese-eating surrender monkeys, it is the French who are poised to take over the US position as a defender of freedom. It was France who first stood up to the Somali pirates wreaking havoc in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean; it was France, not the US, who came out in support of the brave demonstrators risking their lives for a free Iran; and it is President Sarkozy, not President Obama, who has taken a consistently strong stand for women's rights, refusing to bow to the tyranny of "cultural differences" that enslave women, even those who live in a free country.

Let's hope that Sarkozy's proposal meets with a spirited but civilized debate, unlike the riots which followed the earlier headscarf ban. Congratulations to President Sarkozy for once again demonstrating that Western Civilization is worth defending, not something to be apologized for.

Bodies of Two British Hostages Identified

In a tragic turn of events from Baghdad, two bodies turned over to British authorities Saturday have been identified as men kidnapped in Iraq more than two years ago. Via Times Online:

The remains of two British men kidnapped in Iraq two years ago are "highly likely" to be those of the security guards Jason Creswell and Jason Swindlehurst .

The fate of three other hostages seized at the same time – Peter Moore and two men known only as Alan and Alec – is still unknown.

“It is with deep regret that we have today informed the families of the hostages that, based on very strong indications, the two bodies recovered are highly likely to be those of Jason Creswell, originally from Glasgow, and Jason Swindlehurst, originally from Skelmersdale,” the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said in a statement.

“We continue to do everything we can towards the safe release of the other hostages.”

The kidnappers said last year that one of the Jasons had committed suicide – a claim that was never verified. The announcement that both Jasons were dead came as a surprise to officials and a devastating blow for the families.

It is unclear how the two men, security guards for GardaWorld, a Canadian company, died. Sources said that their bodies were decomposed, indicating that they could have been dead for several months.

This is a particularly cruel blow, as hopes were raised for the release of the group over the past two weeks when the US freed Laith al-Khazali, one of the Shiite insurgents who ambushed and murdered 5 American soldiers at Karbala in January 2007. His release, along with 4 other prisoners, was one of the demands of the Iranian-backed militia which carried out the May 2007 abduction of computer consultant Peter Moore and his four bodyguards.

Our deepest condolences to the families of Mr. Creswell and Mr. Swindlehurst, and our fervent prayers for the protection and rescue of the remaining hostages.

Crossposted at Pray for the Hostages

Wednesday's Hero 6/17/09

Pvt. William Long
23 years old from Conway, Arkansas
D Company, 2nd Battalion, 58th Infantry
June 1, 2009


"My brother taught me valuable lessons and made me the man I am today," said Pfc. Triston Long, brother of Pvt. William Long. "My commander said, 'Make your brother one of us.' I will miss my brother with all that I am, and I serve in honor of him."

Pvt. William Long had just completed basic training and was set to ship out on June 8 to his first duty station in Korea when he and Private Second Class Quinton Ezeagwula were shot outside a Little Rock, Arkansas Army-Navy Recruiting Center by Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad. They were in Little Rock to speak to with potential recruits about their experiences.

Pvt. Long's father, Daris Long, a former Marine, wrote a letter to give to him when he shipped out for South Korea. In that letter he wrote, "Your day only ends when you�ve done your duty. You and your brother � are both heroes for having the moral courage to stand up when your country needs you most. You are in my hopes and my thoughts and my prayers. You are my son, you are my hero. I love you. Semper fidelis."

Along with his father and brother, Pvt. William Long is survived by his mother, Janet, who had served in the Navy herself.

All Information Was Found On And Copied From RedState, Sipsey Street Irregulars & Army Times with help from Kathi

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Update on Aid Worker Abduction in Yemen

Yesterday we reported that 7 of the 9 foreign aid workers kidnapped in Yemen had been murdered, probably by an Al Qaeda affiliated group. Today, however, British authorities are saying that 3 persons are confirmed dead and that the others are still considered missing. Via Times Online:

A reward of £15,000 has been offered for information leading to the capture of kidnappers who killed three foreign aid workers and are believed to be holding a British engineer and three children in the Yemen.

The bodies of three women, two Germans nurses and a South Korean aid worker, were discovered by shepherds in the mountainous region of the north of the country.

They were part of a group of nine people who had gone for a day out in the Saada province on Friday. Fears are now growing for the remaining six people, a German doctor, his wife and three children and the Briton, who are still missing.

A search has been launched to try to find the group, many of whom worked at a local hospital.

The Yemeni authorities offered a reward of five million rials (£15,000) for the kidnappers’ capture in a broadcast on the state news agency Saba.

A British Foreign & Commonwealth Office spokeswoman said that it was “deeply concerned” about reports of bodies, said to have been mutilated, being found. Its staff in the area are trying to establish the details surrounding the missing Briton.

Jane Novak of Armies of Liberation has much more information on this abduction, including the identities of the members of the medical mission group:

Source: Yemen Post, I put an asterick next to the three poor souls whose bodies were found stabbed and shot.

The family:
Johannes H. (36)
Sabine H. (36)
their kids Lydia (4), Anna (3) and Simon (1)

The nurses:
Anita G. (24)*
Rita S. (26)*
Anthony S. (british)
Young-Sun Ium (korean)*

She also speculates that the hostages may have been moved to Saudi Arabia through a series of caves used by Al Qaeda for smuggling arms and other supplies.

Please continue to pray for the protection and rescue of these hostages if they are indeed still alive, as we fervently hope they are. More updates as they become available.

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Aid Workers Kidnapped, Murdered in Yemen

Crossposted at Pray for the Hostages