Soldiers were left alone before insurgents struck
Soldiers were left alone before insurgents struck
Updated 6/22/2006 8:34 PM ET
TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) — The two U.S. soldiers who were captured in an insurgent attack last week and later found dead had been left to guard a bridge while other vehicles in their patrol inspected traffic elsewhere, military officials said.
The two soldiers — and a third who died in the initial attack — were left with one Humvee at a bridge on a Euphrates River canal south of Baghdad.
The soldiers and their vehicle were out of view of the rest of the unit when the attack occurred, said Lt. Col. Michelle Martin-Hing, a spokeswoman for coalition forces. It was not clear how far they were from the other Americans. She said the three had been keeping in contact with the others by radio.
An investigation will try to determine why the three-man team was left alone last Friday in the "Triangle of Death," a volatile region south of Baghdad where insurgent activity is high. Army protocols are specifically designed to prevent such attacks, Martin-Hing said.
"The investigation is going to look at whether proper procedures were followed," she said.
After an extensive search, the soldiers' bodies were recovered Tuesday in Youssifiyah, a few miles from where the initial attack took place. Youssifiyah is 12 miles south of Baghdad.
A U.S. military official told the Associated Press on Wednesday that one and possibly both of the soldiers whose bodies were found had been tortured and beheaded. The official requested anonymity because the report on the bodies' condition has not been released.
The bodies were sent to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Wednesday for positive identification through DNA testing.
The captured soldiers were Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston and Pfc. Thomas Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore. Spc. David Babineau, 25, of Springfield, Mass., was killed in the initial attack.
An Internet statement attributed to the Mujahedin Shura Council, an umbrella organization of five insurgent groups led by al-Qaeda in Iraq, claimed responsibility for killing the soldiers. The statement, which could not be authenticated, said the men had been "slaughtered" by the successor to al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike June 7.
In other Iraq news:
• The U.S. military said four Marines were killed Tuesday in Anbar province, three of them in a roadside bombing and a fourth in a separate operation. An Army soldier died Wednesday south of the capital, the military said. It gave no further details.
• Police stormed a farm north of Baghdad and freed 17 people who had been kidnapped a day earlier at their workplace, a factory. Industry Minister Fowzi Hariri told state-run Iraqiya TV on Thursday that 64 people in all had been abducted at the factory.
• At least 25 people have been executed gangland-style in Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city, police told AP. Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, has a mixed Kurdish and Sunni Arab population.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Posted 6/22/2006 1:10 PM ET
Updated 6/22/2006 8:34 PM ET
Updated 6/22/2006 8:34 PM ET
TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) — The two U.S. soldiers who were captured in an insurgent attack last week and later found dead had been left to guard a bridge while other vehicles in their patrol inspected traffic elsewhere, military officials said.
The two soldiers — and a third who died in the initial attack — were left with one Humvee at a bridge on a Euphrates River canal south of Baghdad.
The soldiers and their vehicle were out of view of the rest of the unit when the attack occurred, said Lt. Col. Michelle Martin-Hing, a spokeswoman for coalition forces. It was not clear how far they were from the other Americans. She said the three had been keeping in contact with the others by radio.
An investigation will try to determine why the three-man team was left alone last Friday in the "Triangle of Death," a volatile region south of Baghdad where insurgent activity is high. Army protocols are specifically designed to prevent such attacks, Martin-Hing said.
"The investigation is going to look at whether proper procedures were followed," she said.
After an extensive search, the soldiers' bodies were recovered Tuesday in Youssifiyah, a few miles from where the initial attack took place. Youssifiyah is 12 miles south of Baghdad.
A U.S. military official told the Associated Press on Wednesday that one and possibly both of the soldiers whose bodies were found had been tortured and beheaded. The official requested anonymity because the report on the bodies' condition has not been released.
The bodies were sent to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Wednesday for positive identification through DNA testing.
The captured soldiers were Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston and Pfc. Thomas Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore. Spc. David Babineau, 25, of Springfield, Mass., was killed in the initial attack.
An Internet statement attributed to the Mujahedin Shura Council, an umbrella organization of five insurgent groups led by al-Qaeda in Iraq, claimed responsibility for killing the soldiers. The statement, which could not be authenticated, said the men had been "slaughtered" by the successor to al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike June 7.
In other Iraq news:
• The U.S. military said four Marines were killed Tuesday in Anbar province, three of them in a roadside bombing and a fourth in a separate operation. An Army soldier died Wednesday south of the capital, the military said. It gave no further details.
• Police stormed a farm north of Baghdad and freed 17 people who had been kidnapped a day earlier at their workplace, a factory. Industry Minister Fowzi Hariri told state-run Iraqiya TV on Thursday that 64 people in all had been abducted at the factory.
• At least 25 people have been executed gangland-style in Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city, police told AP. Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, has a mixed Kurdish and Sunni Arab population.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Posted 6/22/2006 1:10 PM ET
Updated 6/22/2006 8:34 PM ET
posted by Walking Contradiction at 6/24/2006 11:36:00 PM
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