Four mutilated bodies have been found west of Baghdad, a US state department official said last night.
The bodies have not been identified but there is speculation that they could be US contractors missing since an ambush on their fuel convoy last week.
The bodies may have been those of private contractors missing since an assault on their convoy outside Baghdad amid a wave of kidnappings of at least 40 foreigners in Iraq.
Foreign nationals are being urged to leave Iraq following heightened violence and a spate of kidnappings of civilians.
Two US soldiers and seven civilian employees of a subsidiary of the US multinational Halliburton have not been seen since the attack on their convoy west of Baghdad last Friday.
According to US officials said the families of the missing Kellogg, Brown and Root workers had been told of the find.
The kidnappings have scared foreign firms in Iraq with an estimated 40 still being held - including those missing from the ambush.
At least 35 others had been taken hostage and released. Nine Americans, including two soldiers, were missing.
Dan Senor, the spokesman for the US-led administration, said yesterday that 40 foreign hostages from 12 countries were being held by Iraqi insurgents. He said the FBI is investigating.
Agencies