Commander Says U.S. Knows Who Abducted 3 G.I.s

Source: New York Times

Commander Says U.S. Knows Who Abducted 3 G.I.s

By KIRK SEMPLE
Published: May 20, 2007

BAGHDAD, May 19 — The top military commander in Iraq said in an interview published Saturday that he knew who was behind the abduction of three American soldiers a week ago and believed at least two were still alive. The military reported that it had detained nine more people suspected of involvement in the case.

In eastern Iraq, near the Iranian border in Diyala Province, gunmen wearing Iraqi Army uniforms dragged 15 Shiite Kurds from their homes and shot them dead, Iraqi government officials said.

About 6,000 American and Iraqi troops are conducting a wide-ranging search for the three missing American soldiers, who are believed to have been abducted after an ambush on May 12 near Mahmudiya, south of the capital. In the days since then, hundreds of people have been detained for questioning in the case, the military said.

The nine people detained on Saturday were taken in a raid in Anbar Province near the village of Amiriyat al Falluja, about 40 miles up the Euphrates River from the site where the soldiers were ambushed.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/world/middleeast/20iraq.html?ref=world