UPDATE: D&C
The three missing U.S. Army soldiers, the subject of a massive manhunt in Iraq, are from the 10th Mountain Division based at Fort Drum in Jefferson County.
Fort Drum has scheduled a press conference for 2 p.m. today to discuss the search for the missing three 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, soldiers.
The names of the three have not been made public.
While military officials have not released the names of the soldiers, the Associated Press is reporting that the Army officials have confirmed that the troops were assigned to Company D, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, which is nicknamed the “Polar Bears.”
It now appears that the attack on May 12 involved troops from our own Tenth Mountain Division.
U.S. troops have questioned hundreds of people and detained 11 in the search for three American soldiers feared captured by al Qaeda during a weekend ambush in an insurgent stronghold south of Baghdad, the U.S. military said Tuesday.
“We have conducted more than 450 tactical interviews and detained 11 individuals” as of Monday night, U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said without elaborating.
“We are working with the Iraqi army and the Iraqi police in searching for our missing soldiers. We’re also communicating with the local population for information, for support and the local population continues to be helpful in providing tips,” Garver said.
CBS News correspondent Mark Strassman reports all the soldiers involved in the ambush were from Fort Drum, in upstate New York. The families have been notified of the deaths and the “unknown” status of the missing troops.
The losses have not been announced on the DoD press release page. One blog has the names of two of the killed but I do not want to add to any speculation.
