2 U.S. soldiers missing
CRAIG GORDON
WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON -- Two U.S. soldiers were missing along with an unknown number of American civilian contractors after insurgents attacked a fuel convoy Friday in Baghdad, a Defense official said.
The official said it was too early to say whether the soldiers and contractors had been taken hostage, though insurgents have stepped up the kidnappings of civilian foreigners in recent days amid widening violence throughout Iraq.
"It's a possibility, but it's not like they have any status other than 'unaccounted for'" as of now, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "We're not ruling that out."
One soldier and an Iraqi driver were killed in the attack on the convoy. Twelve others were wounded, and it was unclear whether they were U.S. soldiers or civilians.
Black smoke could be seen rising over Baghdad after gunmen carrying automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades struck a tanker truck in the convoy in Abu Ghraib on the main highway entering the city from the west.
Soldiers checked with nearby units and hospitals to see if the missing men had turned up, the Defense official said, but "at some point, you say, 'We've exhausted all the places they could be' and deem them unaccounted for." No Iraqi group has claimed the soldiers were taken hostage.
If U.S. soldiers were captured, it would add a dramatic new element to what already has been the Americans' worst week in Iraq since the war ended a year ago, with the death toll now at least 46 for the week.
There had been media reports throughout the day Friday that Americans were taken hostage, but even late in the afternoon, U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Fla., and the Pentagon said they could not confirm the reports. Secretary of State Colin Powell told CNN he had no information to confirm the reports, either.
The news of possible new kidnappings comes as some U.S. troops already in Iraq are being told they should expect to stay beyond their expected one-year tours to deal with the widening violence.
First Armored Division soldiers, who thought they would be home by next month, have been told to prepare to stay for as long as three months more, U.S. officials said.
newsday.com
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