Near Madaen, Iraq, April 17 (SPA) - Hundreds of Iraqi troops backed by U.S. forces raided parts of a town south of Baghdad on Sunday to try to rescue hostages from insurgents threatening to kill them, witnesses said. A senior official in Baghdad said up to 150 hostages, including women and children, were being held since guerrillas in cars carrying rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47s entered Madaen late on Friday and seized them. But a police official has said the number of hostages could be as few as three. --SPA 1304 Local Time 1004 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/255257