US forces killed 11 Shiite militants in security offensives early on Thursday in the southern Iraqi city of Kut. Meanwhile, civilians were abducted by suspected al-Qaeda insurgents in the restive Diyala province, according to dpa. The forces targeted a "special groups criminal element" responsible for attacks on coalition troops and their supporters, the US military said in a statement. In the northern province of Nineveh, two US soldiers were killed and three injured during clashes with gunmen on Wednesday, the military said. The deaths bring the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq since March 2003 to 3,900, according to US army figures. In Diyala province, suspected members of the al-Qaeda terror network abducted 22 people on Thursday, the Voices of Iraq VOI news agency reported citing a security source. Gunmen set up a fake security checkpoint and stopped two vehicles and abducted the passengers, the source said. In a similar incident, gunmen kidnapped several civilians in Baghdad's Fadwa Arab district and drove them to Fadl area Wednesday evening, security sources told VOI.
