May 2007 abduction of United States soldiers in Iraq

[4] Even in 2006 and 2007, the new Iraqi governments, installed in June 2004 and May 2006 and supported by U.S. and British forces, were still facing strong domestic and terrorist opposition, from groups whose identity was not always certain.

The U.S. 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, arrived in Iraq in September 2006, had until May 2007 already lost 18 of its members killed in action, and was living in Iraq under hard conditions,[5] when it was, in May 2007, charged with a military observation post outside Mahmudiyah in the notoriously dangerous area known as the Triangle of Death, south of Baghdad.

[6] On the night of 11–12 May 2007,[5] the aforesaid U.S. military observation post near Mahmoudiyah,[6] with two armored Humvees,[7] 165 feet apart and facing in opposite, outward, directions, each with four soldiers, seven of them U.S., one Iraqi soldier, sat guard,[5] looking for insurgents planting explosives,[7] and was ambushed[7] and attacked[8] by a group[7] using automatic weapons and explosives.

[14] On 9 June 2007, coalition forces raided a suspected "al-Qaida in Iraq" (AQI) house near Samarra (125 km north of Baghdad) and discovered those ID cards of Jimenez and Fouty.

[13] Over a year later, on 9 July 2008,[8] a suspect led authorities to the shallow grave of Jimenez and Fouty,[7] 20 km (12.5 miles) south of the ambush site.