Search on for missing US troops

2006-06-17 17:20

Baghdad - Military divers and helicopters searched for two United States soldiers on Saturday, missing after an attack that killed another American soldier south of Baghdad.

The soldiers went missing after their checkpoint at a canal crossing near the town of Yusufiya came under fire on Friday evening.

"We are using every means at our disposal on the ground, in the air and in the water to find them," said major general William Caldwell, the US military spokesperson in Iraq.

"We will not stop looking until we find the missing soldiers," he said. "Dive teams are now on site, working the canals and river."

Yusufiya is a town in a rural area referred to as the "Triangle of Death" because of frequent clashes between US forces and gunmen from the Sunni Arab minority.

Caldwell said a US unit was at the scene shortly after an explosion and small arms fire was heard from the checkpoint on Friday.

"The quick reaction force reported finding one soldier killed and two soldiers' duty status and whereabouts unknown," said Caldwell.

"Three raids were conducted during the night on suspected possible locations, and a fourth operation was conducted this morning."

Caldwell said the US military did not stop looking for missing personnel until their status was "definitively determined".

He said it was still looking for sergeant Keith "Matt" Maupin, more than two years after he was allegedly captured.

Maupin has been missing since April 2004, when his military fuel convoy was ambushed in Baghdad.

- Reuters