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.