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U.S. and Iraqi Forces Exchanged Fire |
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Monday, 14 May 2007 |
 U.S.
and Iraqi forces exchanged fire with suspected Sunni insurgents earlier today,
killing two and wounding four of them during a massive search for three missing
American soldiers. The
search is taking place in a volatile area south of Baghdad, according to the Iraqi army. An
al-Qaida front group, the Islamic State in Iraq,
claimed Sunday that it had captured U.S soldiers in a deadly attack on a U.S. convoy the day before in Sunni area south of Baghdad that is known as the "triangle
of death" - a longtime al-Qaida stronghold.
Meanwhile, 4,000 U.S.
troops backed by aircraft, intelligence units and Iraqi forces were scouring
the farming area around Mahmoudiya and the nearby town of Youssifiyah for the third day, as the
military promised to make every effort available to find the missing soldiers.
Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a U.S.
military spokesman in Baghdad, said the military
could not verify the claim by the Islamic State of Iraq but "it would not
surprise me if ... al-Qaida in Iraq
is involved in this because there are similarities to what they've done
before." He pointed out that
the terror network also had claimed responsibility for killing two U.S. soldiers
whose mutilated bodies were found after they went missing in the same area last
year. The Islamic State in Iraq offered no proof for its claim on Internet that
it was behind the attack Saturday in Mahmoudiya, about 20 miles south of
Baghdad, that also killed four U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi translator.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 14 May 2007 )
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