A group affiliated to al-Qaida in Iraq said on Sunday in an Islamic Website that the missing US soldiers were in their hand for now.

In a statement posted on the Website, the group self-called Islamic State in Iraq said that it has been holding the "crusader" soldiers since the attack against the US patrol south of Baghdad on Saturday.

But the group failed to offer any tangible proof for its claim, only said that it would made public the details of the "blessed" operation as soon as they are available.

The US army has been engaged in searching work for three missing soldiers, who disappeared after a deadly ambush on their patrol, which also claimed lives of five other US soldiers.

(Xinhua News Agency May 14, 2007)