BAGHDAD — U.S. troops killed 11 members of a Mahdi Army splinter group early today, American officials said. The military also announced that it had detained two more suspects in the capture of three U.S. soldiers earlier this year.

One of the suspects is thought to have "facilitated" the kidnapping of the American soldiers taken during a May ambush near Youssifiyah, about 12 miles south of Baghdad, and to have used his house to hide the soldiers, the military said in a statement.

A weapon belonging to one of the soldiers was found at the residence of the other suspect. The men were detained on Monday and Tuesday in Ramadi, the military said.

Spc. Alex R. Jimenez of Lawrence, Mass., and Pvt. Byron W. Fouty of Waterford, Mich., were seized May 12 when insurgents attacked and overran a checkpoint in the volatile area south of Baghdad known as the "triangle of death."

A third soldier, Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr., of Torrance, Calif., also was captured during the raid and his body was found May 23 floating in the Euphrates River. Four U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi soldier were killed during the ambush.

The Islamic State of Iraq, a front group for al-Qaida, claimed in an Internet video earlier this year that the three missing soldiers were killed and buried. The militants showed images of the military IDs of Jimenez and Fouty but offered no proof that they were dead.

U.S. officials have said they have detained around a dozen suspects in connection with the soldiers' disappearance.

Today's fighting took place in the early morning hours in Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad.

It was not immediately clear if the U.S. raid on the splinter militia members would impact a six-month freeze on activities that the Mahdi Army leader — radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr — called in August and has signaled in the past week he might extend.

In the past, al-Sadr has said that any Mahdi Army members who do not abide by his freeze would no longer be considered members of the militia. But he also has indicated that his fighters have the right to defend themselves if attacked by U.S. forces.

Al-Sadr's order to halt activities has been credited by American commanders as one reason why violence in Iraq has fallen dramatically in the past six months. However, it is unclear how much control al-Sadr maintains over his fighters as groups have splintered from the main movement.

The officer said eight militia members were killed; the U.S. military said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that it killed an "estimated" 11 fighters. The reason for the discrepancy was not immediately clear.

In a later statement, the U.S. military said the operation was targeting a suspect who was "reportedly responsible for attacks against Coalition forces."