Two Missing Commandos Are Dead

A U.S. official has told CBS News that two of the three members of an elite U.S. military team still missing near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border are dead.

The report comes after an Afghan provincial governor claimed that a third member of the four-man special operations team - missing since Tuesday - had been located near the border. U.S. military officials in Washington have denied that, saying there is no information to prove the claim. The governer cited Afghan intelligence sources when he made his announcement.

The fourth missing Navy SEAL was rescued yesterday. A U.S. military spokesman would only say that American forces were still searching the area for the other three soldiers.

Kunar Gov. Asadullah Wafa also said a U.S. airstrike last week in the region killed 17 civilians. The American military confirmed civilians died but said the attack was targeting a known terrorist compound.

Citing Afghan intelligence sources, Wafa said the second U.S. service member was believed to be wounded and had taken shelter in a house in a remote part of the region.

"He is in a civilian's house. He is injured," he said. "Afghan soldiers and police are trying to reach the area to rescue him."

U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Jerry O'Hara declined to comment on the governor's comments, except to say "we hold every hope for those who are still missing."

He said American forces were still in the area searching for the missing men.

But a senior U.S. Defense Department official in Washington said a second service member had not been found. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of ongoing rescue operations.

The small special operations unit was reported missing last Tuesday in mountains in Kunar province, near the border with Pakistan. A rescue effort the same day ended in tragedy when a transport helicopter seeking to extract the team was shot down, killing 16 soldiers aboard. It was the deadliest single blow yet to American forces who ousted the Taliban in 2001.

The bombing that killed civilians also was in Kunar and occurred last Friday.

"Seventeen civilians were killed during the bombing, including women and children," Wafa said. He did not say whether any militants also were believed to be in the compound.

The military confirmed that civilians were killed but didn't give a number.

The attack was "with precision-guided munitions that resulted in the deaths of an unknown number of enemy terrorists and noncombatants," the military said in a statement.

"The targeted compound was a known operating base for terrorist attacks in Kunar province as well as a base for a medium-level terrorist leader," it said. "Battle damage assessment is currently ongoing."

The statement added that U.S. forces "regret the loss of innocent lives and follow stringent rules of engagement specifically to ensure that noncombatants are safeguarded. However, when enemy forces move their families into the locations where they conduct terrorist operations, they put these innocent civilians at risk."

The U.S. service member who was rescued from Kunar province was being evaluated Monday, officials said. They have declined to say when the rescue occurred or provide other details, including a reaction to reports that the team consisted of several Navy SEALs.

A local Afghan governor claims the rescued commando was protected by local villagers, CBS News Correspondent Bob Orr reports.

U.S. military officials will not say how the SEAL managed to survive and avoid capture in the harshest of conditions, but CBS News Military Analyst Col. Mitch Mitchell credits brutal special forces training.

"People have been known to survive out there for weeks if they get a little bit of food and can keep that water coming and aren't really exposed too badly to the elements," Col. Mitchell said.

A purported Taliban spokesman, Mullah Latif Hakimi, claimed last week that militants had captured one member of the team and said he was a "high-ranking American" caught in the same area as where the helicopter went down, but refused to elaborate.

Hakimi, who also claimed insurgents shot down the helicopter, often calls news organizations to take responsibility for attacks, and the information frequently proves exaggerated or untrue. His exact tie to the Taliban leadership is unclear.

U.S. officials said there was no evidence indicating that any of the soldiers had been taken into captivity.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Afghan soldiers fighting alongside U.S. troops in the mountains have encircled a small group of suspected al Qaeda fighters, but no leaders of Osama bin Laden's network are believed to be in the area, Defense Minister Rahim Wardak told AP.

Wardak said the rugged, wooded mountains in Kunar are popular with militants because they are "easy to infiltrate and get out quickly." He said al Qaeda is not thought to have permanent bases there, but that small teams of fighters roam the area.

In a separate development, a joint United Nations-Afghan government electoral commission condemned the killing of a senior pro-government cleric, Mohammed Nabi Misbah, in the southern city of Kandahar on Sunday.

Misbah had been working for the commission in the city ahead of the landmark legislative elections in September, said Bronwyn Curran, a spokeswoman for the organization. Police have blamed the Taliban for the attack.

The killing comes after an unprecedented spate of rebel attacks across Afghanistan that have left about 700 people dead and threatened three years of progress toward peace since the ouster of the Taliban.