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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