Missing US troops 'held by al-Qaida group'

An al-Qaida front group claims to have captured American soldiers in a deadly Iraq attack, as thousands of US troops searched insurgent areas south of Baghdad for their three missing comrades.

The statement was made yesterday, one of the deadliest days in Iraq in recent weeks, with at least 126 people killed or found dead – including two American soldiers who died in separate bombings in Anbar and Salahuddin provinces.