Posted on 06/16/2006 5:54:09 PM PDT by TexKat
BAGHDAD, Iraq Jun 16, 2006 (AP)— A soldier in the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq was killed and two others were missing after an attack on a checkpoint southwest of Baghdad on Friday, the U.S. military said.
The attacked took place around 8 p.m. near the town of Yusufiyah, about 12 miles southwest of Baghdad.
"After hearing small arms fire and explosions in the vicinity of the checkpoint, a quick reaction force responded to the scene," a military statement said. "Coalition forces have initiated a search operation to locate and determine the status of the soldiers."
The statement didn't provide any other information and the U.S. military in Iraq couldn't immediately be reached.
This is a dupe thread.
Ping
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A U.S. soldier was killed and two were unaccounted for Friday after they came under attack at a traffic checkpoint in Yusufiya, about 20 miles southwest of Baghdad.
A quick reaction team was searching for the missing soldiers early Saturday morning. The team was dispatched to the scene after other troops nearby heard gunfire.
The soldiers were officially listed as "whereabouts unknown," which means they could have been captured or killed or could be hiding out.
The death brought to 2,492 the number of U.S. troops killed in the Iraq war. Seven American civilian employees of the military also have died in the conflict.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/06/16/iraq.main/index.html
pray right now ! for the 2 missing, too...
^
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1650844/posts
Prayers for the protections and safety of these soldiers..
Amen SE Mom.
Being captured in Iraq is the very last thing any American soldiers wants to happen, even to the point of taking your own life to prevent it.
I pray that these two are hiding out somewhere and will soon report back in safely.
Woe be to those that would use their trademark actions against captured American soldiers.
If such should come to pass,... I'm for pulling out all the stops!
By: AFPS | Submitted on: 06/17/06
BAGHDAD, June 17, 2006 – Coalition and Iraqi officials have launched a massive search operation for two coalition soldiers missing following an incident in Yusufiyah, Iraq, yesterday.
Multinational Force Iraq spokesman Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said today a third soldier was killed in the fight. The names are being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
The soldiers were manning a checkpoint at a canal crossing near the Euphrates River. Forces at a nearby traffic-control point heard an explosion and small-arms fire at about 7:55 p.m. yesterday.
A quick-reaction force responded and arrived on the scene within 15 minutes, Caldwell said. They found one soldier killed and the other two missing.
Those missing have been listed as "duty status and whereabouts unknown." This category changes to "missing in action" if they are not found in 10 days.
"Coalition soldiers and Iraqi security forces initiated a search operation within minutes to determine the status of (the missing) soldiers, and we are currently using every means at our disposal on the ground, in the air and in the water to find them," Caldwell said.
Following the incident, commanders notified all traffic-control points to stop civilian traffic and increase security. Coalition officials also dispatched helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles to aid the search.
"Within an hour of the incident, blocking positions were established throughout the area in a concerted effort to focus the search and prevent movement of suspects out of the area," Caldwell said.
In addition, coalition forces launched three raids, one today and two yesterday, on suspected terrorist safe houses in the area. Dive teams are searching the canals and river near the site.
Yusufiyah has been the site of many extremist incidents. In April, coalition forces killed and captured a number of foreign fighters hiding in the area. Battles in May resulted in the deaths of more than 40 Sunni extremists. Yusifiyah is a predominantly Sunni town about 10 miles south of Baghdad.
Coalition and Iraqi forces met with local leaders to enlist their aid in finding the missing soldiers.
"We continue to search using every means available and will not stop looking until we find the missing soldiers," Caldwell said. "Make no mistake: We never stop looking for our servicemembers until their status is definitively determined, and we will continue to pray for their safe return."
Only one soldier is listed as missing in action during the three-plus years of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Terrorists said they captured Army Sgt. Matt Maupin in April 2004. A videotape alleged to show Maupin appeared on an extremist Web site.
The American Forces Press Service (AFPS) is the news service provided by the United States Department of Defense and supplies news stories pertaining to the activities of U.S. military forces around the world.
By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. troops on Saturday searched for two soldiers missing after an attack that killed one of their comrades at a checkpoint in the so-called "Triangle of Death" south of Baghdad.
U.S. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said four raids had been carried out since Friday's attack and that ground forces, helicopters and airplanes were taking part in the search.
He said a dive team also was going to search for the men, whose checkpoint was located by a Euphrates River canal near Youssifiyah, 12 miles south of Baghdad.
The New York Times reported that Iraqi residents in the area said they saw two soldiers taken prisoner by a group of masked guerrillas. It said the two surviving soldiers were led to two cars and driven away.
Fellow soldiers at a nearby checkpoint heard small-arms fire and explosions, and a quick-reaction force reached the scene in 15 minutes, the military said. The force found one soldier dead but no sign of the two others.
"We are currently using every means at our disposal on the ground, in the air and in the water to find them," said Caldwell, the spokesman for U.S. forces in Baghdad.
The area is known as the Triangle of Death because of the frequent ambushes and attacks against U.S. soldiers and Iraqi troops.
The spokesman noted the military was still searching for Sgt. Keith Matthew Maupin, who went missing on April 9, 2004.
"We continue to search using every means available and will not stop looking until we find the missing soldiers," he said.
Maupin was captured when insurgents ambushed his fuel convoy with the 724th Transportation Co. west of Baghdad. A week later, Arab television network Al-Jazeera aired a videotape showing Maupin sitting on the floor surrounded by five masked men holding automatic rifles.
That June, Al-Jazeera aired another tape purporting to show a U.S. soldier being shot. But the dark, grainy tape showed only the back of the victim's head and did not show the actual shooting. The Army ruled it was inconclusive whether the soldier was Maupin.
A 20-year-old private first class at the time of his capture, Maupin has been promoted twice since then.
In this still from video footage released by the U.S. Army, Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell speaks during a press conference in Baghdad Iraq, Saturday, June 17, 2006. The US military said troops searched Saturday for two soldiers that went missing after an attack that killed one of their comrades at a traffic checkpoint in the so-called 'Triangle of Death' just south of Baghdad. Caldwell said four raids were carried out since the Friday attack and that troops, helicopters and airplanes were taking part in the search. (AP Photo / US Army via APTN)
Coalition forces kill 12 terrorists April 26, 2006 Release A060426a
BAGHDAD , Iraq – Coalition forces killed 12 terrorists during a raid April 25 in Yusifiyah at a safe house associated with foreign terrorists. Multiple intelligence sources led the troops to the specific structure located approximately 8 kilometers N/NE of the location where the U.S. Apache helicopter crashed April 1.
Upon arrival the troops took direct fire and immediately engaged the threat with small arms fire as well as rotary wing aircraft machine gun fire. The troops initially killed five terrorists outside of the safe house, and then called for an air strike to neutralize the persistent direct fire coming from the safe house.
After the precision air strike, the ground troops conducted a tactical search of the destroyed safe house and located the bodies of seven more terrorists and a woman. Every male who was found in the rubble was wearing an AK-47 vest with two loaded magazines and two grenades. The troops also discovered suicide notes on one of the terrorists, body bombs, weapons to include a shoulder-fired rocket and ammunition.
The first terrorist who ran out of the safe house upon the troops' arrival was attempting to launch the shoulder-fired rocket and was immediately engaged and killed.
Two wanted terrorists, one potentially transnational, were believed to be operating from this safe house. However, it is unknown at this time if the two were killed in the raid. Coalition forces are currently determining the identity of those killed.
The troops destroyed the weapons, suicide vests/body bombs and ammunition on-site.
Scores Are Killed In Heavy Fighting South of Baghdad May 16, 2006
BAGHDAD, May 15 -- U.S.-led forces killed more than 40 Sunni Arab fighters in a series of ferocious battles south of Baghdad, military officials said Monday. Officials also announced the deaths of four U.S. service members, including two soldiers killed when insurgents shot down their helicopter in the area of the insurgent clashes.
The combat on Sunday and Monday appeared to be larger in scale than previous encounters in the area. The first attack took place near the town of Yusufiyah when U.S.-led troops and aircraft moved in on a suspected insurgent safe house, the military said. The aircraft attacked both the house and a vehicle parked outside, resulting in a chain reaction of explosions. Two suspected insurgents were killed and four were detained, the military said.
As helicopters departed, carrying two women who were injured in the blasts, the insurgents opened fire on them from another location, the military said. The ground troops called for more air support, and jets and helicopters pounded the enemy positions, killing approximately 20 more suspected insurgents.
During the battle, three other fighters in a truck tried to break through a security perimeter, but they were shot by ground troops, the military said. One of the three detonated a vest containing explosives, killing himself but no one else.
The downing of the helicopter took place near Yusufiyah, a predominantly Sunni Arab town about 10 miles south of the capital, the military said in a brief statement. A U.S. military spokesman reached by telephone said he could not elaborate on the circumstances of the incident for reasons of operational security.
SpecOps unit nearly nabs Zarqawi April 28, 2006
By Sean D. Naylor Times staff writer
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaida’s leader in Iraq, is shown here in a video originally posted on Tuesday. He accused the West and the United States of waging a “crusader” war against Islam but said Muslim holy warriors were standing firm. The image was provided via the IntelCenter, a private contractor working for intelligence agencies. — AP Photo / via IntelCenter
Just nine days before al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi released his latest video, a special operations raid killed five of his men, captured five others and apparently came within a couple of city blocks of nabbing Zarqawi himself.
Then, the day Zarqawi’s video debuted, special ops forces killed 12 more of his troops in a second raid in the same town.
The raids in Yusufiyah, 20 miles southwest of Baghdad in the heart of the Sunni Triangle, were the latest battles in a small, vicious war being waged largely in the shadows of the wider counterinsurgency effort.
It is a war fought by a secretive organization called Task Force 145, made up of some of the most elite U.S. troops, including Delta Force and SEAL Team 6. They have one goal: hunting down Zarqawi, Iraq’s most wanted man, and destroying his al-Qaida in Iraq organization.
Zarqawi’s escape in Yusufiyah was not the first time special ops troops have nearly had him. In early 2005, they came so close they could see the Jordanian’s panicked face as he fled.
The first of the two Yusufiyah raids began at 2:15 a.m. April 16 when SEAL Team 6 operators and Army Rangers approached a terrorist safe house, a U.S. special operations source said.
A U.S. Central Command news release said “coalition forces” — the usual shorthand for Task Force 145 elements — were “searching for a wanted al-Qaida associate.”
Iraqi, MiTT Soldiers cooperate on, off battlefield May 06, 2006
Success in restoring security and stability in Iraq will be measured by how well Iraqis maintain security, sustain themselves and enforce the rule of law after Coalition Forces depart.
It is the job of the Military Transition Team, or MiTT, to ensure that the Iraqi army is ready to take on that responsibility.
MiTT 4, stationed in Yusufiyah, has been preparing Iraqi soldiers to take over an incredibly active area south of Baghdad that had traditionally been a terrorist sanctuary before the Iraqi Security and Coalition Forces began offensive operations there in February.
"The job of the MiTT is to coach, mentor, train and report the activities of the Iraqi army, specifically 4th Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division," said 1st Lt. Ryan Crosby, executive officer, MiTT 4.
Although the Iraqi army shows continuing progress, there were some difficulties facing MiTT 4 in getting the Soldiers prepared to take over the battlefield.More
This is a real hotbed of evil isn't it?
Thanks for the research and post TK..
An effective headline grabber by Al-Queda.
I talked to my Captain MI in the Army this AM, and he said those 2 soldiers are in big trouble. He doubts unless Iraqis stand up to the plate and give info where they're being held...he doubts they'll be found alive. ;o(
ABC News
Farmer: U.S. Troops in Iraq Taken CaptiveFarmer Says Iraq Insurgents Killed Humvee Driver and Took Two Other U.S. Troops Captive
By KIM GAMEL
BAGHDAD, Iraq Jun 18, 2006 (AP)— A farmer claiming to have witnessed an attack on a U.S. military checkpoint said Sunday that insurgents swarmed the scene, killing the driver of a Humvee before taking two of his comrades captive. The U.S. military has only said the soldiers are missing.
U.S. troops, backed by helicopters and warplanes, fanned out across the "Triangle of Death" south of Baghdad searching for the missing servicemen. At least four raids had been carried out, but the captives were not found, the military said.
Another local resident said the soldiers searched houses on Sunday and promised a $100,000 reward for any information leading to the missing soldiers.
White House spokesman Tony Snow said he had no new information about the search and could not confirm reports the two men were abducted.
"We're still trying to ascertain their whereabouts," he told CNN's "Late Edition." "Obviously, there is a vigorous effort to try to locate them and to bring them back safely."
A U.S. military spokesman, Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, said Saturday a dive team also was searching for the men, whose checkpoint was near a Euphrates River canal not far from Youssifiyah, 12 miles south of Baghdad. The Sunni region is the site of frequent ambushes of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi troops.
Ahmed Khalaf Falah, a farmer who said he witnessed the attack Friday, said three Humvees were manning a checkpoint when they came under fire from many directions. Two Humvees went after the assailants, but the third was ambushed before it could move, he told The Associated Press.
Seven masked gunmen, including one carrying what Falah described as a heavy machine gun, killed the driver of the third vehicle, then took the two other U.S. soldiers captive, the witness said. His account could not be verified independently.
The U.S. military said Sunday it was continuing the search.
"Coalition and Iraqi forces will continue to search everywhere possible, uncovering every stone, until our soldiers are found, and we will continue to use every resource available in our search," it said.
Falah also said tensions were high in the area as U.S. soldiers raided some houses and arrested men. He also said the Americans were setting up checkpoints on all roads leading to the area of the attack and helicopters were hovering at low altitudes.
A Youssifiyah resident, who claimed his house was searched by U.S. soldiers Sunday afternoon, also said the Americans used translators to offer $100,000 for information leading to those who took the soldiers.
He said he would not cooperate because he was angry with the Americans.
"I will not do it even if they pay $1 million," the resident said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he feared retribution. "They deserve all that they are facing … We are living a hard life because of them."
The U.S. military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the resident's claim.
The military said Saturday that soldiers at a nearby checkpoint heard small-arms fire and explosions during the Friday night attack, and a quick-reaction force reached the scene within 15 minutes. The force found one soldier dead but no signs of the other two.
"We are currently using every means at our disposal on the ground, in the air and in the water to find them," said Caldwell, the spokesman for U.S. forces in Baghdad.
He said blocking positions were established throughout the area within an hour of the attack to keep suspects from fleeing.
Caldwell also said the military was still searching for Sgt. Keith M. Maupin, of Batavia, Ohio, who went missing April 9, 2004.
"We continue to search using every means available and will not stop looking until we find the missing soldiers," he said.
Maupin was captured when insurgents ambushed his fuel convoy with the 724th Transportation Co. west of Baghdad. A week later, Arab television network Al-Jazeera aired a videotape showing Maupin sitting on the floor surrounded by five masked men holding automatic rifles.
That June, Al-Jazeera aired another tape purporting to show a U.S. soldier being shot. But the dark, grainy tape showed only the back of the victim's head and did not show the actual shooting. The Army ruled it was inconclusive whether the soldier was Maupin.
"There have been ongoing efforts," Snow said. "Unfortunately, again, no word on Keith Maupin, either."
Maupin, a 20-year-old private first class at the time of his capture, has been promoted twice since then.
Associated Press reporter Sameer N. Yacoub contributed to this report.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2090653&page=3
Thanks for the info shield although it is disheartening.
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