Kidnapped soldier sold to Taliban clan

CNN:

An American soldier captured in southeastern Afghanistan is being held by a notorious militant clan, a senior U.S. military official said.

The American and three Afghan soldiers were captured by low-level militants and then quickly "sold" to the clan led by warlord Siraj Haqqani -- believed to be deeply involved in the action.

The Haqqanis operate on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and are well known to the U.S. military. They are assembling shuras, or local councils of leaders, to talk and try to "legitimize" what they have done, the official said.

U.S., Afghan and Pakistani troops are sealing off the area and also are talking to tribal chiefs, village elders and leaders.

They are telling them to "do the right thing and solve this," the official said.

The U.S. military is telling people not to let Haqqani operatives move through their area and to find the American and return him. The military wants to make sure there is "no shelter" for the militants holding him.

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Finding and rescuing this kidnapped soldier will be a high priority that will cause this clan more grief than they ever imagined. With a special operations force commander now in charge of operations in Afghanistan, they will be able to quickly put a tracking team together to locate the soldier and attempt a rescue. The Hagganis have invited more scrutiny than they ever imagined.