Army Times -- An American soldier missing in Iraq since late October probably was captured by the enemy, the Pentagon said Thursday, making official what the U.S. military there has suggested for more than a month.
Ahmed K. Altaie, a 41-year-old Iraqi-born resident of Ann Arbor, Mich., was snatched off the street while he was visiting his Iraqi wife in Baghdad on Oct. 23.
U.S. forces have conducted raids in portions of Sadr City searching for Altaie, who worked as a translator. The U.S. government has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to his recovery.
He initially was listed as “whereabouts unknown,” but the military generally reviews such cases to rule out all other possibilities, including being absent without leave. He is now considered “missing-captured.”
In Altaie’s case, the Mahdi Army is believed to have grabbed him, as well as dozens of people during a raid on a Ministry of Higher Education office in Baghdad on Nov. 14. The ministry is predominantly Sunni Arab.