AP: Farmer reports US troops in Iraq taken Captive

18 June, 2006


By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer 23 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - 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.

Another local resident said the soldiers searched houses on Sunday and promised a $100,000 reward for any information leading to the missing soldiers.

"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."

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.

The U.S. military said Sunday it was continuing the search.

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.

He said he would not cooperate because he was angry with the Americans.

The U.S. military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the resident‘s claim.

"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.

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.