US military expands search for missing soldiers

The US military today said it had intensified its search for two missing soldiers, with more than 8,000 Iraqi and US troops combing the volatile area south of Baghdad where the men were attacked.

Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, a spokesman for US forces in Iraq, also said the military had killed three suspected insurgents and detained 34 others in fighting that left seven US servicemen wounded during the search that began on Friday evening.