“Taliban militants in Afghanistan claimed to have beheaded a US special forces soldier they had held hostage since last week, but the US military said there was no proof the soldier had been killed.

Self-styled Taliban spokesman Mullah Abdul Latif Hakimi told AFP the soldier was killed on Saturday and his body was left on a mountainside in the northeastern province of Kunar.

An American navy SEAL has been missing in Kunar after the rescue attempt of a four-man team ended in the downing of a US military helicopter on June 28, killing 16 people. One soldier was rescued but the other two are dead.” (Agence France-Presse)