A member of an elite American military team missing in Afghan mountains since last week has been rescued, while US forces yesterday pushed on with their search for other members of the group still unaccounted for, US military officials said.

The rescued American serviceman was being rushed to Landstuhl Regional Medical Centre in Germany, a US Defence Depart-ment official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of ongoing search and rescue operations.

The Afghans were killed when US warplanes bombed a suspected militant hideout at Chichal village in troubled Kunar province late Friday amid the search for the small team of elite US soldiers, the provincial governor said.

The US squad has been missing since June 28, when rebels shot down a helicopter sent to extract them, killing all 16 on board. One team member was rescued on Saturday but three remain unaccounted for, the television network CNN said.