[Marinir] [CNN] 3 missing, 5 killed in attack on U.S. patrol

[Yap Hong Gie]

Korban pasukan koalisi yang gugur di Irak dalam sehari:
2,42 jiwa.


http://icasualties.org/oif/

Latest Coalition Fatality: May 12, 2007.
Coalition Casuaties: 3,667 death;  Everage: 2,42  per day.
Wounded: 26,188 ;  Total War Days: 1,514

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http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/05/12/iraq.main/index.html

3 missing, 5 killed in attack on U.S. patrol
POSTED: 8:39 p.m. EDT, May 12, 2007

. Team of seven U.S. troops, one Iraqi, attacked before dawn
. Five killed; search is on for three others
. U.S. general asks for more troops in Diyala province
. Diyala province is insurgency hot spot bordering Iran


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- American troops were on the hunt in a volatile
region south of Baghdad for three members of a U.S.-led military patrol, who
went missing after an insurgent attack Saturday that killed five others.

The U.S. military said attackers struck the team of seven U.S. soldiers and
an Iraqi army interpreter.

It was unclear whether the Iraqi was among the missing or among those
killed, and it is not known whether the interpreter was a soldier or a
civilian employee. (Watch military spokesman describe details of the
attack )

U.S. forces are using all assets in their search for the missing troops, who
are listed as duty status whereabouts unknown, the military said.

Checkpoints have been established throughout the region and aircraft
including helicopters, drones and jets have been deployed in the search.

The predawn attack occurred 12 miles west of Mahmoudiya, a city south of
the capital in a region that has been nicknamed the Triangle of Death. (Map)

A nearby unit heard explosions, and 15 minutes later, a drone aircraft
spotted two burning vehicles, according to a U.S. military statement.

"Coalition Forces are currently using every means at our disposal to find
the missing Soldiers, and we will continue these efforts until all are
accounted for," said a statement from military spokesman Maj. Gen. William
B. Caldwell.

The search is reminiscent of the hunt last June for two soldiers who were
seized at a checkpoint in Yusufiya.

The two also were listed as duty status whereabouts unknown until their
bodies were found three days later.

Also Saturday, two Iraqi civilians were killed and five others were wounded
when a parked car bomb detonated east of Baghdad in Mada'en, the Interior
Ministry said.

Friday evening a roadside bomb explosion near a Shiite mosque in
northeastern Baghdad killed one civilian and wounded five others, the
official said.

Separately, the U.S. military said coalition forces arrested three
insurgents and destroyed a car bomb Saturday morning during a raid in
Baghdad's sprawling Sadr City.

The troops were targeting an bomb network and found bomb-making materials.

"The individuals have suspected ties to a secret cell network in the area
known for facilitating the transport of weapons and EFPs from Iran to Iraq,
as well as bringing militants from Iraq to Iran for terrorist training," the
military said.

The military also announced on Saturday that "several insurgents" attempting
to plant roadside bombs in a southern Baghdad neighborhood were interrupted
by U.S. soldiers and Iraqi security forces earlier in the week.


General asks for more troops

Friday, the U.S. military commander in charge of northern Iraqi operations
on Friday said more troops are needed to stem rising insurgent violence in
Diyala province.

"I do not have enough soldiers right now in Diyala province to get that
security situation moving," said Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon, commander
of the 25th Infantry Division.

Mixon's comments came as a political battle was being waged in Washington
over whether funding for U.S. forces fighting in Iraq should be tied to a
deadline for their withdrawal.

In Washington on Thursday, the U.S. House passed a bill that would tie war
funding beyond July to a progress report. The bill faced an uncertain future
in the Senate, however, and President Bush vowed to veto it. (Full story)

Mixon did not specify whether more U.S. or Iraqi forces were needed.
He made his comments during a news briefing from Iraq via teleconference
at the Pentagon.

"We have plans to put additional forces in that area. ... We have put
additional forces in there over that last couple months, an additional
Stryker battalion, but I'm going to need additional forces in Diyala
province to get that situation to a more acceptable level." (Watch Mixon
lay out his need for additional troops )

About 3,500 U.S. soldiers, 10,000 Iraqi soldiers and several thousand police
officers are stationed in Diyala. More than 3,000 additional police are
needed, he said.

The level of violence has increased in Diyala, Mixon said, because the
forces are increasing their offensive operations against the insurgents,
many of whom have left Baghdad during the recent security crackdown,
and because al Qaeda in Iraq has made Diyala a focus.


Other developments

America's top military commander in Iraq sent a letter to troops challenging
them to "occupy the moral high ground" after a Pentagon survey showed some
service members were reluctant to report the "illegal actions" of fellow
personnel. In the letter, dated Thursday, Gen. David Petraeus wrote he was
"concerned" with the poll's findings.
The survey of ethics, released last week, assessed the mental health and
ethical attitudes of more than 1,300 soldiers and nearly 450 Marines last
year. (Read the report)

Twenty-two people were killed and 60 were wounded Friday in two southeastern
Baghdad bombings, an official with the Iraqi Interior Ministry told CNN. Two
suicide bombs -- one in a car and another in a fuel tanker -- exploded in
quick succession in the predominantly Shiite Zafaraniya district, each
targeting an Iraqi police patrol. A bridge over the Tigris River was
substantially damaged.

CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq and Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report.