US forces broadened their hunt for three missing comrades beyond the rural area south of Baghdad where they disappeared, and the top US commander expressed optimism that at least two of them were still alive a week after their isolated outpost was ambushed.
At least one US soldier was killed on Saturday and four others wounded as insurgents attacked the searchers with guns, mortars and bombs. The military reported a dozen other US troop deaths in Iraq since Thursday.
Northeast of the capital, there was more gruesome Iraqi-on-Iraqi murder. Men in Iraqi army uniforms rousted Kurdish villagers from their homes, separated out the able-bodied men, and shot dead 15, according to an Iraqi general and a Kurdish political party.
It was the latest incident in months of sectarian killings in lawless Diyala province and officials said Saturday that the local army commander was fired by the government.
Violence also marred the last visit to Iraq by British Prime Minister Tony Blair before he leaves office. A mortar round hit the British Embassy compound and two more elsewhere in the Green Zone while Blair was in Baghdad. And then, although Blair's itinerary was not announced, explosions also were heard when Blair went to Basra in southern Iraq, where British forces are based.
The search for the missing soldiers involves some 4,000 troops who "will not stop searching until we find our soldiers," said Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Garver, a US military spokesman in Baghdad.
"We're using all available assets and continuing to assault the al-Qaeda in Iraq network," he said.
Acting on a tip, Garver said troops raided a building in Amiriyah on Saturday morning and captured nine Iraqis suspected of involvement in the attack. Amiriyah is a stronghold of Sunni insurgents with close tribal ties to Quarghuli, where the outpost was overrun.
He said US troops also detained two Iraqis in Baqubah who he said were "associated" with the al-Qaeda command network. He did not tie those arrests directly to the missing soldiers. Their outpost in Quarghuli is about 19km south of Baghdad and about 80km from Baqubah, a violence-wracked city to the north.
A group that claims ties to al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the May 12 attack that resulted in the kidnapping and the deaths of four US soldiers and an Iraqi aide. However, there has been no evidence, such as photos, video or audio, released by that or other groups.
Army General David Petraeus, the senior US commander in Iraq, told the Army Times newspaper in an interview on Friday night that US forces were focusing on an insurgent who is "sort of an affiliate of al-Qaeda."
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