A body recovered by Iraqi police from the Euphrates River south of Baghdad was identified as one of three American troops captured in an ambush claimed by al-Qaeda, the US military said Thursday.
Despite the recovery of the body, thousands of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers combed fields and searched homes south of Baghdad for a 13th day on Thursday, hoping to turn up clues about the soldiers. "The search continues," said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a U.S. military spokesman.
American forces also declared 11 more deaths Wednesday and Thursday, raising to at least 22 the number of U.S. troops killed in five days. The military announced Thursday that two U.S. soldiers were killed the day before while conducting combat operations in Iraq's Anbar Province. Those deaths, along with the deaths of nine other soldiers and Marines announced Wednesday, brought the American death toll for the month to at least 82. Last month, 104 U.S. troops were killed in Iraq.
On Thursday, a car bomb targeting mourners at a funeral killed 27 people and wounded more than 30 in Fallujah, a hospital source said. The mourners were gathered in a tent at the time, the source told Reuters.
Also Thursday, a roadside bomb attack in northern Iraq killed six police officers, Iraqi police said. The attack on the police convoy occurred about 8:30 a.m. in the Sulaiman Bek area about 75 miles south of the northern city of Kirkuk.
Nationwide, at least 104 people were killed in sectarian violence or found dead Wednesday, including 32 who died in suicide bombings.
