The U.S. military says Iraqi troops have arrested 16 more suspects during the search for three U.S. soldiers believed captured by al-Qaida-linked militants last week.
A military statement says the Iraqi forces, backed by U.S. military advisors, detained the suspects based on tips from local Iraqis.
Thousands of soldiers are searching for the missing Americans. The U.S. military is offering a reward of $200,000 for information on the whereabouts of the three.
Iraqi police say a bomb blast near a bridge in southeastern Baghdad killed at least two people and wounded five others Thursday. Police say the blast occurred near the entrance to the Diyala bridge, which was damaged in a truck bombing last week.
Separately, an Iraqi policeman was killed in an explosion near his home in the town of Hillah, about 100 kilometers south of Baghdad.
The three U.S. soldiers have been missing since Saturday, when their unit was attacked south of Baghdad. Four other U.S. troops were killed in that attack.
An al-Qaida-led militant group, the Islamic State of Iraq, claimed responsibility for the attack, and has demanded that the United States call off its search, if the soldiers are to remain safe.
