KABUL, Afghanistan – The International Security Assistance Force recovered the body July 4 of a missing ISAF service member in southern Afghanistan.
The cause of death is under investigation.
It is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities
4 Jul 11 The Ministry of Defence can confirm that a British serviceman is missing in Afghanistan. An extensive operation to locate him is under way.
The individual is based in central Helmand and was reported missing in the early hours of this morning.
His next of kin have been informed and they will be updated as the operation continues.
We will not confirm any further details at present.
Editor's Note: In other reports by various news media sources, the Taliban are claiming to have captured this British soldier in a firefight in Babaji in southern Helmand province and that he was killed in the firefight. NATO has no reports of a gun battle/firefight in that region in the morning hours of Monday, July 4th. There are no statements from the British Defence, NATO or other military sources confirming this information at this time. We have posted both NATO's release and the British release of information above.