BeautifulDisaster - banned
10-24-2006, 03:07 PM
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Masked men grabbed a U.S. soldier, handcuffed him and forced him into a vehicle, the U.S. military said Tuesday, offering a relative's account of how the Iraqi-American translator went missing in Iraq.
The soldier had been visiting the relative at a residence when the kidnapping occurred Monday night. The military has not released his identity.
Shortly after the abduction, the kidnappers reportedly contacted the relative on the soldier's cell phone, the military said.
Based on that phone contact, U.S. troops "immediately took decisive actions to locate the soldier" and raided several suspected locations. Among them were a TV station owned by Iraq's largest Shiite political party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, and the Sadid al Dris Mosque, the military said.
The search continued Tuesday, with the military using unmanned aerial vehicles in the hunt.
"We will leverage all available coalition resources to find this soldier," said his commander, Maj. Gen. James D. Thurman. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to his loved ones, and we are working for his safe return."
The soldier works as a translator, according to CNN correspondent John Roberts, who was embedded with troops conducting the operation.
The soldier's duty status remains listed as "whereabouts unknown," according to a U.S. military news release Tuesday.
The soldier was last seen in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone at 2:30 p.m. (7:30 a.m. ET) Monday before he apparently left to visit his relative's house, according to the military.
Three cars pulled up to the residence, and several men jumped out, the military said.
"The men, who were described to have dark-colored rags over their noses and mouths, handcuffed the soldier and forced him into one of the vehicles," the military said.
Soldiers searched houses and buildings in central Baghdad. U.S.-led coalition forces and Iraqi National Police also set up checkpoints to shut down roads and bridges in the area as well as to search vehicles attempting to leave, the military said.
The soldier had been visiting the relative at a residence when the kidnapping occurred Monday night. The military has not released his identity.
Shortly after the abduction, the kidnappers reportedly contacted the relative on the soldier's cell phone, the military said.
Based on that phone contact, U.S. troops "immediately took decisive actions to locate the soldier" and raided several suspected locations. Among them were a TV station owned by Iraq's largest Shiite political party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, and the Sadid al Dris Mosque, the military said.
The search continued Tuesday, with the military using unmanned aerial vehicles in the hunt.
"We will leverage all available coalition resources to find this soldier," said his commander, Maj. Gen. James D. Thurman. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to his loved ones, and we are working for his safe return."
The soldier works as a translator, according to CNN correspondent John Roberts, who was embedded with troops conducting the operation.
The soldier's duty status remains listed as "whereabouts unknown," according to a U.S. military news release Tuesday.
The soldier was last seen in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone at 2:30 p.m. (7:30 a.m. ET) Monday before he apparently left to visit his relative's house, according to the military.
Three cars pulled up to the residence, and several men jumped out, the military said.
"The men, who were described to have dark-colored rags over their noses and mouths, handcuffed the soldier and forced him into one of the vehicles," the military said.
Soldiers searched houses and buildings in central Baghdad. U.S.-led coalition forces and Iraqi National Police also set up checkpoints to shut down roads and bridges in the area as well as to search vehicles attempting to leave, the military said.