Via AP:

BAGHDAD (AP) - US troops widened the search for three missing American soldiers, detaining nine people in a raid today about 25 miles from where the service members were taken captive.

The military says the raid occurred in Amiriyah, west of Baghdad.

The missing soldiers are from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum in northern New York.

Tribes in the Amiriyah area are related to those who live close to where the soldiers were seized May 12.

Meanwhile, the fourth soldier killed in the raid was identified:

According to officials, the fourth American soldier killed in the Mahmoudiya ambush has been identified as Sgt. Anthony Schober, and the family of the victim has been notified.

The group that reportedly kidnapped the three American soldiers may have stolen the now-identified 4th G.I.'s dog-tag, causing added difficulty in efforts to identify him.

The three missing men are Specialist Alex Jimenez, 25, of Lawrence, Mass.; Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr., 20, of Torrance, Calif.; and Pvt. Byron Fouty, 19, of Waterford, Mich. We continue to pray for their safe and swift rescue.

UPDATE: Report: At least 2 abducted GIs believed alive:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The top U.S. commander in Iraq thinks he knows who kidnapped three U.S. soldiers last weekend and believes that at least two of them are alive, the Army Times newspaper reported.

“We know who that guy is,” Gen. David Petraeus said in an interview posted Saturday on the Army Times Web site.

Petraeus did not give the man’s name but described him as “sort of an affiliate of al-Qaida. He’s the big player down in that area. We’ve tangled with him before.”

Posted by: noburqa at 10:37 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
Post contains 289 words, total size 2 kb.