By KIM GAMEL

The Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq– – U.S. forces continue to search for two missing soldiers.

Ahmed Khalaf Falah said he witnessed the abduction of the Americans on Friday where three Humvees were manning a U.S. checkpoint near Youssifiyah, about 12 miles south of Baghdad.

The vehicles came under fire and two Humvees chased after the assailants, but the third was attacked before it could move, he told AP. Seven masked gunmen killed the driver of the third vehicle, then took the other two soldiers captive, Falah said.

Falah said tensions were high in the area as U.S. troops raided houses and detained men in looking for the missing soldiers.

A Youssifiyah resident said he was offered $100,000 for information leading to those who took the soldiers.

The U.S. military denied a reward was offered saying coalition and Iraqi forces “will continue to use every resource available.”

“I will not do it even if they pay one million dollars,” said the man from Youssifiyah, speaking on condition of anonymity because he feared retribution. “They deserve all that they are facing … we are living a hard life because of them.”

White House spokesman Tony Snow said he could not confirm the two missing soldiers were abducted, but he told “Fox News Sunday” that anybody who might be holding them should “give them back.”

“Obviously, there is a vigorous effort to try to locate them and to bring them back safely,” he said in an interview with CNN.

The two soldiers were the first to go missing in the Iraq war since 2004.