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U.S Military Says It Has Al-Qaeda Kidnap Gang Cornered In Farmland
H/T National Review The Tank -- also, on the way to work this morning, when I started the car, I got in on the tailend of this report. I kinda blinked, and thought I had missed it. Keep those prayers active, praying for all of these guys involved, and that this is true.

May 15, 2007 9:16 p.m. EST

Richard Bowden - AHN Staff Writer

Mahmudiya, Iraq (AHN) - Backed by sniffer dogs and helicopters, U.S. forces in Iraq searching for three soldiers captured by an Al-Qaeda gang on Saturday have said the group is cornered in an area of farmland near Baghdad.

The three soldiers from Fort Drum's 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division were captured by the gang after being ambushed on a patrol sent to intercept roadside bombs.

"Right now our focus is on searching for the missing soldiers, and we're trying to isolate the areas where we think they could be," said Army Maj. Kenny Mintz, the brigade operations officer for the 2nd BCT, 10th Mountain Division in a Multinational Corps Iraq news release.

"The (captors) don't have freedom of movement; if they have the soldiers, they can't move them from where they are. We're doing a deliberate search of the areas for the people responsible for the soldiers we're looking for," he said.

No confirmation has been received whether the U.S, soldiers are still alive and militants have mocked coalition attempts to rescue the missing soldiers.


Posted by: Sherry 2007-05-16
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=188509