There are nearly 140,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan

REUTERS

A soldier from Afghanistan's NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has gone missing in the south of the country and his status is unknown, the force said Monday.

"An International Security Assistance Force service member has been listed as duty status whereabouts unknown in southern Afghanistan," ISAF said in a statement, adding a search had begun for the soldier.

ISAF gave no further details regarding the incident or the nationality of the soldier, reports Reuters.

A spokesman for the Taliban told Reuters the militant group had captured the soldier Sunday and had executed him in the Babaji area of southern Helmand.

"The soldier was captured yesterday evening during a firefight. When the fighting got more intense we couldn't keep him so we had to kill him," Qari Mohammad Yousuf said by telephone from an undisclosed location.

Reuters could not independently verify the Taliban claim and the hardline Islamists often exaggerate battlefield exploits. An ISAF spokesman declined to comment on the Taliban claim.

Most of the troops in southern Afghanistan are American and British, however, soldiers from other countries also operate in the south.

In June 2009 insurgents captured American soldier Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl in south-eastern Afghanistan and have released videos showing him in captivity dressed in both Afghan clothing and in military uniform.