U.S. troops detained 11 suspects, including nine people suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of three U.S. soldiers, the U.S. military said on Saturday.

Based on intelligence, the American regulars in the morning broke into a building near the Amiriyah area west of Baghdad and detained nine suspected insurgents.

"Coalition Forces continued to follow tips and information leads in the disappearance of three U.S. Soldiers, raiding a building near Amiriyah Saturday morning," the military said in a statement.

"During the raid, Coalition Forces detained nine individuals suspected of involvement in the kidnappings," it said.

Thousands of U.S. troops continue a massive search operation for more than a week looking for three soldiers who were kidnapped near the town of Mahmoudiyah when insurgents attacked a U.S. patrol on May 12, killing four U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter while three other soldiers went missing.

"We will make every effort available to find our three missing soldiers," Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, chief military spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq, said.

Separately, two more suspects "allegedly associated with the command network of al-Qaida in Iraq" were detained on Friday in

Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, the statement added.

Source: Xinhua