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New attacks kill one American in IraqAnother two GIs missing in Baghdad
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A member of U.S. commando unit hunting for Saddam Hussein was killed Thursday and eight other special operations troops were wounded in an ambush by anti-coalition urban guerrillas, the U.S. military said. Two other Americans were wounded and an Iraqi driver was killed in other attacks against coalition targets -- the latest in a series of incidents one U.S. military official called a "classic phase of insurgency." In addition, Pentagon officials in Washington said an extensive search was under way in the Baghdad area for two U.S. soldiers missing since late Wednesday. They were last reported traveling in a Humvee near a checkpoint when military officials lost contact with them. Asked if the two soldiers might have been abducted, a senior Pentagon official said there was no evidence of that, but there was concern about their fate. The American killed Thursday -- an Army Ranger serving on Task Force 20, the special operations unit spearheading the hunt for Saddam and other fugitive leaders -- died when a vehicle he was traveling in with other soldiers passed by a vehicle loaded with explosives that detonated, a military official told CNN. There was no evidence the anti-American forces knew they were targeting special operations forces, said a U.S. military official familiar with the latest briefings on the security situation in Iraq. "There is no doubt this was an organized attack, an ambush, and it represents an increasing level of organization and sophistication. What we're seeing is an urban guerrilla force taking the initiative against the forces that are there," the official said. "We are seeing the elements getting traction, probing finding a vulnerability, and there is no coercive apparatus to punish them, so we can expect to more of this stuff. "We don't have the secret police-type there to root out that insurgent force and never will, so we are at a disadvantage," the official said. The latest American death raised to 59 the number of U.S. troops who have died since President Bush announced the end of major combat activity in Iraq -- 20 by hostile fire. There have been 197 U.S. military fatalities since the war began. The other casualties Thursday came in two separate attacks. A rocket-propelled grenade struck a Coalition Provisional Authority vehicle carrying a group that included the director for rehabilitation of electricity in Iraq, killing the driver and wounding at least two others, a military spokesman said. The attack took place on a road between Baghdad and the airport. In another rocket-propelled grenade attack, two soldiers were wounded when their tractor-trailer was hit on the southern outskirts of Baghdad, a military spokesman said. Regarding the missing soldiers, U.S. officials said a search party went to the missing soldiers' Humvee's last known location and encountered an Iraqi man acting strangely. He was being questioned. Nearby Iraqis told U.S. military personnel they had seen another vehicle in the area depart along with the Humvee, officials said. Although details are sketchy, officials said they tracked the second vehicle to a building, which they searched. A blood trail and civilian clothes were found, officials said, but it was unclear whether they are related to the soldiers' disappearance. Wednesday, three U.S. Marines were wounded in an ambush in Hillah, about 70 miles south of the Iraqi capital, U.S. Central Command said. Another Marine died and two others were injured as a quick reaction force responded. All six Marines were evacuated to a military surgical unit, according to Central Command. British probe under wayOfficials investigating the deaths of six British military policemen in the village of Majar al-Kabir have determined the six were not involved in violence that left four Iraqis dead, the general in charge of British troops in Iraq said Thursday. (Gallery: Scenes from the aftermath) The six were the sole members of a Royal Military Police patrol traveling to towns from the 1st Battalion, the Parachute Regiment's base in Amarah "to advise the local police force on policing matters and monitor their progress," said Maj. Gen. Peter Wall in Basra. "You will understand that it would be wholly inappropriate for me to make any detailed comments about this incident while we are still trying to establish the facts," he said. "The fact that there were no British survivors makes this particularly difficult." (Britain to review Iraq troop presence) Majar al-Kabir, outside Amarah in southern Iraq, was on the patrol's first stop Tuesday, Wall said. The patrol's stop at the village police station apparently coincided with a clash between a platoon from the parachute regiment and Iraqis who seemed to believe the regiment had come to conduct weapons searches in violation of an agreement with local elders. "The crowd violence appears to have stemmed from a misunderstanding," Wall said. "The townspeople expected searches for weapons to be conducted by our patrols. "That was not our intent, and this had been explained to the town council at a formal meeting earlier in the week, when the strength of their resentment to weapons searches had become clear." The intent was "a routine joint patrol in the town working with the local militia," Wall said. Wall said investigators were piecing together a narrative of what happened with help from local leaders who have given them what he called "excellent cooperation." The soldiers were the first Britons killed in an Iraqi attack since the United States announced the end of major combat May 1. Progress reported in weapons search
U.S. personnel searching in Iraq for banned weapons and their components are making rapid progress and the world can expect surprises soon, the CIA's chief weapons inspector told CNN. The progress is being made because key Iraqis are finally beginning to open up -- men like Dr. Mahdi Obeidi who turned over documents and parts of an Iraqi gas centrifuge system for developing nuclear weapons material. Obeidi buried the material beneath rose bushes in his back yard 12 years ago. (Full story, On the Scene: CNN's Mike Boettcher) "My suspicions are that we'll find [things] in the chemical and biological areas. In fact, I think there may be some surprises coming rather quickly in that area," chief CIA weapons inspector David Kay told CNN over a secure teleconference between Baghdad and CIA headquarters in McLean, Virginia. (Full story) The International Atomic Energy Agency said Thursday the parts Obeidi provided were not evidence of a smoking gun that proved Iraq had a program to produce unconventional weapons. "The findings refer to material and documents of the pre-1991 Iraqi nuclear weapons program that have been well known to the agency," said spokesman Mark Gwozdecky. Other developments• Former Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf -- who doggedly insisted Saddam Hussein was winning even as Baghdad fell -- said Thursday he had been questioned by U.S. forces and then released. In an excerpt from an interview that will air in full at 3 p.m. EDT Friday on the Arabic news channel Al-Arabiya, al-Sahaf described the Iraq war this way: "It was a very difficult time. Not just on one man, but on all." (Full story) • U.S. troops in Iraq have found 300 bags of a type of bean used to produce a deadly poison, U.S. officials said. The discovery was made in a former brake fluid plant. The bags of castor beans were marked "urea," which is a fertilizer compound. Castor beans are used in the production of ricin, a poison that can be used in biological weapons. U.S. officials said the discovery is under investigation. CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr and Producer Tomas Etzler contributed to this report
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