U.S. Black Hawk Helicopter Down in Iraq, Six Die
By REUTERS
Filed at 9:01 p.m. ET
TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) - A U.S. Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Iraq
on Friday, killing all six people on board, and U.S. soldiers said it
had probably been shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade.
Apache attack helicopters scoured the area around the crash site in
Tikrit, 110 miles north of Baghdad, hunting for guerrillas near Saddam
Hussein's hometown who may have brought down the Black Hawk.
If confirmed to have been attacked by insurgents, it would be the
third U.S. helicopter shot down in two weeks for an overall loss of 22
lives.
The U.S. military said two U.S. soldiers had also been killed in the
northern city of Mosul, one in a bomb attack on Thursday morning and
one in an ambush on Friday.
``At approximately 9 a.m. this morning, a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter
went down,'' Major Josslyn Aberle of the 4th Infantry Division told
reporters. ``At this stage we don't know if it was due to mechanical
failure or another reason.''
Soldiers in Tikrit said initial reports suggested the helicopter had
been hit by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG).
A column of smoke rose from the crash site, and U.S. troops sealed off
the area. Soldiers at the base said they heard two explosions and ran
outside to see the destroyed helicopter.
The Army said the helicopter had burst into flames after crashing on
the banks of the Tigris river.
The U.S. military reimposed a night-time curfew around Tikrit from 11
p.m. as a result of the incident. The curfew had been lifted for the
Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
After nightfall, attackers fired two mortar bombs into the Army's main
compound in Tikrit but caused no casualties. The base has come under
fire many times in recent months but the attacks have lacked the
accuracy needed to cause major damage.
FRONTLINE HELICOPTER
The Black Hawk is the U.S. Army's frontline utility helicopter,
designed to carry 11 combat-ready assault troops, and is also used for
medical evacuations.
Last Sunday, guerrillas shot down a U.S. Chinook helicopter west of
Baghdad as it carried troops on a rest and recreation break, killing
16 American soldiers in the deadliest single strike on U.S.-led forces
since they invaded to oust Saddam.
On October 25, guerrillas brought down a Black Hawk in Tikrit, hitting
one of its engines with an RPG. The helicopter made an emergency
landing and all five crew members escaped before it was engulfed in
flames.
In another blow to U.S. efforts to stabilize Iraq, a Turkish
government source confirmed that Ankara had dropped plans to send
thousands of troops to help secure the country.
Turkey's parliament approved the deployment last month but the
U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council objected, saying it did not
want troops from neighboring countries on Iraqi soil. Turkey is a
former imperial power in Iraq and has tense relations with Iraq's
Kurds, who are represented on the Council.
In Mosul, gunmen with RPGs killed one soldier and wounded six other
soldiers in an ambush on a U.S. convoy on Friday, Sergeant Kelly Tyler
of the 101st Airborne Division told Reuters.
A soldier from the same division was killed in a roadside bomb blast
on a highway near Mosul on Thursday, the Army said.
The attacks brought to at least 141 the number of U.S. soldiers killed
in action since Washington declared major combat over on May 1 -- more
than the 114 killed in March and April.
INCREASE IN ATTACKS AROUND MOSUL
Tyler said there had been a marked increase in attacks around Mosul
over recent days.
``Over the last few days, attacks have increased and more
significantly, the effects have been greater,'' Tyler said.
Near the restive town of Baquba, hundreds of U.S. troops backed up by
armored vehicles raided a village on Friday. Local people said the
troops were hunting for Rashid Taan Kazim, a former regional chairman
of Saddam's Baath Party who is number 49 on a U.S. list of the 55
most-wanted Iraqi fugitives.
The raid ended without anybody on the most-wanted list being captured,
U.S. officers in the town northeast of Baghdad said.
In another series of raids around Qusayba on the Syrian border,
members of an ``anti-Coalition cell'' were detained, the Army said. It
said the operation, named ``All American Tiger,'' also seized weapons
and pro-Saddam paraphernalia.
Saddam -- top of the list with a $25 million price on his head --
remains on the run.
The New York Times quoted military officials as saying a new U.S.
covert commando force had been created to hunt Osama bin Laden and
Saddam, and had come close to finding the deposed Iraqi leader.
Task Force 121 includes troops from the Army, Navy and Air Force and
is supplemented by a conventional force which can be used to secure
the perimeter of an area where a raid is about to take place, the
paper said.
.
|
|
|
Related Articles |
|
|
