U.S.: Some participants in ambush confess; Equipment of missing possibly found; 330 square miles being scoured as more Strykers, troops join search

Above: Byron Fouty, Anthony Schober, Joseph Anzack, and Alex Jimenez are listed as 'whereabouts unknown'. Three are known dead: Daniel Courneya, Christopher Murphy and James Connell. One body found at the site has not yet been identified. The three remaining are believed by the military to be in the hands of a group linked to al-Qaeda.

Four days into a huge manhunt for three American soldiers abducted in an ambush a few miles from here, military officials said Wednesday that they had detained several local residents who confessed to taking part in the attack and that they had recovered equipment that might have belonged to the missing soldiers...

He and other officers said the full swath of the brigade’s 330-square-mile sector south of Baghdad was being scoured for clues. Outposts in the area equipped for 70 soldiers have been packed with 250, military officials said.

Here at Forward Operating Base Yusufiya, the frenzied activity of a major military operation was apparent. An additional battalion riding in 19-ton Stryker vehicles arrived from Baghdad on Wednesday. Dogs used for finding bodies or bombs moved between blast walls as the line for dinner on base ran out the door. Several helicopters an hour came and went with supplies and soldiers.

Read the rest at the NY Times

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