An al-Qaeda affiliated group that claimed it had captured U.S. troops warned the United States on Monday to stop searching for them and stated it attacked the U.S. convoy as revenge for the rape and murder of a local teenager last year.
The U.S. military also said it believes the three missing soldiers were captured by al-Qaeda-linked fighters after an attack that included three roadside bombs. "What you are doing in searching for your soldiers will lead to nothing but exhaustion and headaches. Your soldiers are in our hands. If you want their safety, do not look for them," the Islamic State of Iraq said on a militant Web site.
"You should remember what you have done to our sister Abeer in the same area," the statement said.
Meanwhile, gunmen opened fire on a police checkpoint, and mortar rounds struck an outdoor market, killing eight people in Iraq on Monday, police said.
The worst attack occurred in the Diyala province capital of Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, when gunmen in two cars opened fire on a police checkpoint, killing three policemen and two civilians, police said.
