Posted on 11/07/2003 5:59:21 AM PST by archy
World - AFP
Blackhawk down in Iraq, six US soldiers killed
11 minutes ago Add World - AFP to My Yahoo!
TIKRIT, Iraq (AFP) - Six US soldiers were
A US soldier holds his pistol as he asks people to go inside killed when a US Blackhawk helicopter was 'forced down'
killed when a Blackhawk helicopter was "forced down"
outside a US military base near Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s hometown
of Tikrit.
Fri Nov 7, 8:33 AM ET
during a weapons search in Fallujah. Six US soldiers were
outside a US military base near the northern Iraqi town of Tikrit.(AFP/Patrick Baz)
Latest headlines:
· Blackhawk down in Iraq, six US soldiers killed AFP - 11 minutes ago
· Six Killed in Helicopter Crash in Iraq AP - 13 minutes ago
Special Coverage
A witness said Friday that he saw the chopper being shot down and a soldier said it appeared it may have been hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, but military officials said they were still investigating whether the Blackhawk had been fired at.
The incident came just days after a US Chinook chopper was shot down outside the flashpoint western town of Fallujah, killing 16 American soldiers, and followed the death of another US soldier in an ambush in northern Iraq Friday morning.
All six soldiers aboard the Blackhawk were killed, according to Josselyn Aberle, a spokeswoman for the 4th Infantry Division in Tikrit. Another military official said the chopper was "forced down."
Aberle said investigators were looking into reports that a loud bang was heard before the crash.
A soldier at the scene said the incident was similar to one where a Blackhawk was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, also near Tikrit, on October 25, wounding one soldier.
"It appears that they were shot down in the same manner," said US army specialist Brian Speckler.
One witness claimed he saw the chopper, which was flanked by another Blackhawk, being shot down.
"I saw one of the helicopters shot from the side and I saw smoke and a ball of fire," said Saqr Ghani, 19, as he watched a cloud of white smoke emerge from the spot where the chopper went down.
"I felt happy and started shouting 'Allahu Akbar'" -- God is Greatest. I then ran to the car and immediately headed to the river bank, where I saw the helicopter cut in two pieces," he said.
The chopper crashed onto a strip of land in the Tigris River, just outside the headquarters of the 4th Infantry, which patrols areas of north-central Iraq where US troops face daily and often deadly attacks.
Tikrit, 180 kilometers (110 miles) north of the capital, is still considered a bastion of Iraq's ousted strongman.
In Mosul, further north, a US soldier was killed and seven were wounded Friday when their convoy was ambushed by assailants firing rocket-propelled grenades, a military spokesman said.
Pending US army investigation of the latest incident in Tikrit, 144 US soldiers have been killed in combat in Iraq since May 1, when Washington declared major hostilities over. During the main, six-week offensive before that date, 114 Americans died from hostile fire.
In western Iraq, soldiers of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment mourned their comrades-in-arms who died Sunday when their Chinook transport helicopter was downed outside Fallujah, another resistance bastion, 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of the capital.
In a tribute to the fallen soldiers at the Al-Asad Air Base Thursday night, men prayed and cried as taps rang out in a ceremony, where an American flag fluttered and 15 helmets hung from posts.
One of the men wounded in the incident died in a German hospital Thursday, the Pentagon (news - web sites) said, putting the toll at 16 dead and 26 wounded.
Colonel David Teeples, who commands the regiment in Al-Asad, vowed his soldiers would not be deterred from their mission.
"Despite the recent tragedy, troops from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment remain strong and dedicated to continue our mission in Iraq," said Teeples.
Civilians too have been caught in the crossfire.
An Iraqi woman was killed and her husband wounded when a mortar bomb struck their house in Moqdadiya, 100 kilometers (60 miles) northeast of Baghdad, the wounded man said Friday.
Yunes Ibrahim Hatem, 39, said it was one of four bombs which apparently targeted an adjacent police station, where there are also US troops.
That's the Associated Press report.
This one's from AFP, Agency France-Presse
Different text, I believe, and a different photo accompanying the story. Title search didn't turn up the same headline, either.
-archy-/-
· Blackhawk down in Iraq, six US soldiers killed AFP - 11 minutes ago
· Six Killed in Helicopter Crash in Iraq AP - 13 minutes ago
I was explaining why I moved this copy from breaking.
I was explaining why I moved this copy from breaking.
So the *breaking news* is a crashed helicopter.
Not 6 dead American soldiers.
Thank you so much. :-)
Yeah. All six.
Not 6 dead American soldiers.
Bump your headline!
Good thing others do w/ breaking news.
Bernard Mayo discusses Sunday, Nov. 9, 2003, in his Litchfield, Maine, home, the death of his daughter, Army Chief Warrant Officer Sharon Swartworth. Swartworth, a 26-year Army veteran, died Friday, Nov. 7, 2003, in a Black Hawk helicopter crash in Iraq. An investigation was under way to determine what caused the crash, but several officers believed the Black Hawk was shot down by insurgents. (AP Photo/Kennebec Journal, Andy Molloy)
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