U.S. mounts frantic search for soldiers after ambush

BAGHDAD — A massive aerial and ground manhunt involving hundreds of American and Iraqi troops was under way Saturday for as many as three U.S. soldiers missing after an organized assault on a military patrol south of Baghdad. The convoy was carrying seven U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi army interpreter, and five of them were killed.

The pre-dawn attack occurred 12 miles west of Mahmudiyah, a volatile city nestled between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers within a rural region dubbed "the Triangle of Death." It is known to be infiltrated by al-Qaida fighters and other Sunni insurgent groups. As of early today, no group had asserted responsibility for the attack, U.S. military officials said.

In the hours after the assault, and stretching into the night, American combat helicopters, unmanned surveillance drones and planes scoured surrounding areas, U.S. military officials said. Troops secured a wide perimeter, conducting door-to-door searches and erecting checkpoints to seal off roads and streets to prevent the missing soldiers from being transported out of the area. U.S. military officials also have enlisted local leaders in the search.

"Make no mistake," Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, the military's top spokesman, said in a statement, "We will never stop looking for our soldiers until their status is definitively determined, and we continue to pray for their safe return."

A U.S. military source familiar with the manhunt said the two-vehicle convoy was struck with a roadside bomb, then was apparently ambushed by gunmen. Some of the soldiers had been shot. Flames consumed the vehicles, but it was unclear whether the explosion caused the fire or if it had been set later.

"It was a planned, coordinated attack," the source said. It was unclear whether the interpreter was among those killed or missing or whether he was a soldier or a civilian, said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a military spokesman. All of the soldiers were assigned to the U.S. Army's Third Infantry Division.

The attack was the latest in a series of targeted strikes against American soldiers in recent weeks that have generated high single-day death tolls. On April 23, twin suicide truck bombings killed nine soldiers and injured 20 at a remote combat outpost in Diyala province. On May 6, a roadside bomb stuck a convoy in Diyala, killing six soldiers and a Russian journalist.

The casualties underscore the growing vulnerability of U.S. troops in Iraq as they increasingly live in and patrol hostile terrain under a new counterinsurgency plan intended to wrest control of areas from insurgents. The insurgents use their knowledge of the land and sophisticated guerrilla tactics to target the troops.

Saturday's attack occurred in the same region as one in June in which insurgents ambushed three soldiers manning a vehicle checkpoint near a power plant in the town of Yusufiyah. Spc. David Babineau, 25, died in the initial attack, and Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, and Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker, 25, were abducted. Their bodies, showing signs of brutal torture, were found after a manhunt involving 8,000 troops.

Securing the violent areas around Baghdad has become a primary focus of the security plan launched in mid-February and the troop buildup ordered by President Bush. One of the five new U.S. military brigades sent to Iraq as part of the "surge" deployed to the other side of the Tigris River from Mahmudiyah, working to stop the traffic of explosives into Baghdad and to disrupt areas where insurgents are believed to hide and plan their assaults.

The mayor of Mahmudiyah, Mu'aiad Fadhil Hussein, said Saturday's attack happened near the village of Beshesha, west of the city. He described it as "one of the most dangerous areas" of the city. A curfew has been imposed on Mahmudiyah and surrounding areas, he said.

Garver, the military spokesman, said U.S. helicopters, planes, tanks, and soldiers were outfitted with infrared and night-vision equipment, and thermal sights that can detect people through body heat, especially when the earth cools down.

"We have great capabilities to continue the hunt through the night," Garver said. "We'll keep continuing to search."

Also Saturday, the military announced the death of an American soldier from a bomb attack Friday near Iskandariyah, 30 miles south of Baghdad.

At least 30 Iraqis were reported killed or found dead elsewhere in Iraq, including a Sunni physician shot to death on his way home from work in the northern city of Mosul.

Seventeen bullet-riddled bodies showing signs of torture — apparent victims of sectarian death squads usually led by Shiite militias — also turned up on the streets in Baghdad.

All but two were found on the predominantly Sunni western side of the Tigris River that divides the capital where sectarian violence appears to be on the rise.

More than 3,000 members of the U.S. military have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. But few have been kidnapped, due largely to strict military procedures for those on patrol or at checkpoints.

U.S. troops in Iraq travel in groups of armored vehicles, usually Humvees, and procedures are in place to keep track so no one is left behind.

Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.

Shiite party appears to pull back from Iran

BAGHDAD — Iraq's largest Shiite party pledged its allegiance Saturday to the country's top Shiite cleric in a move apparently aimed at establishing its distance from Iran, where it formed and grew for decades before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion here.

The announcement by the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq was not a sudden shift. It has sought to align itself with the cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, ever since coming out of exile in Iran, claiming one-quarter of Iraq's Parliament seats and taking control of the southern provinces centered in Najaf with its Badr Organization militia.

But the announcement did seem to be an effort to solidify a more sovereign Iraqi image, and it included pledges to oppose "terrorists" and cooperate with Sunnis, all commitments sought by the U.S.

In the announcement, party leader Abdelaziz Hakim said the changes were a reflection of "the new equilibrium ruling Iraq." As a result, the party dropped "revolution" from its name and will call itself the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council.

— Los Angeles Times