BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — A U.S. military helicopter crashed Saturday northeast of Baghdad, killing all 13 people on board, a new blow to American efforts in Iraq as U.S. and Iraqi forces prepare for a major security operation to pacify the capital and surrounding areas.
The military said the crash was under investigation. The brief U.S. statement lacked the customary comment that the aircraft was not shot down, indicating it may have come under fire by insurgents
The helicopter was carrying 13 passengers and crew members and all were killed, it said. No further details were released, including the exact location of the crash.
The violent Diyala province sits northeast of Baghdad, and U.S. and Iraqi forces have been battling Sunni insurgents and Shiite militia forces around its main city of Baqouba for months.
Separately, the military also announced the deaths of two American soldiers and a Marine.
One soldier was killed Saturday in a roadside bombing in northern Baghdad. Another was killed Friday by a roadside bomb in the northwest province of Ninevah, while a Marine was killed Friday in fighting in Anbar, the military said.
The crash underscored a major danger in Iraq as the military relies heavily on air travel to transport troops and ferry officials to avoid the dangers of roadside bombs.
The worst U.S. aircraft accident since the war began was on Jan. 26, 2005, when a Marine transport helicopter crashed during sandstorms in Iraq’s western desert, killing 30 Marines and a U.S. sailor.
Ahead of the imminent drive to pacify Baghdad, U.S. helicopters dropped off elite Iraqi police forces staging a raid Saturday against an al-Qaida-linked Sunni militant group in Baghdad, killing 15 insurgents and capturing five, the Interior Ministry said.
Members of the militant group were hiding in two abandoned houses in a Sunni stronghold in southern Baghdad, and resisted the assault by the Iraqi forces, who were backed by gunfire from the helicopters, ministry spokesman Abdul-Karim Khalaf said.
Those killed and captured were believed to be part of the militant group known as the Omar Brigade, which Khalaf said was behind a series of kidnappings and killings of Shiites in the neighborhood.
“We were provided with helicopter support by our friends in the multinational forces and we did not suffer any casualties,” Khalaf said.
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January 20, 2007 at 6:49 pm