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zero
Rear Admiral
Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 4566
Location: Texas
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 Thu Apr 21, 2005 3:10 pm Commercial Helicopter Shot Down in Iraq, 11 Dead |
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| Quote: | 41 minutes ago
Add to My Yahoo! Top Stories - Reuters
By Luke Baker
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Guerrillas shot down a Bulgarian commercial helicopter in Iraq Thursday, killing all 11 on board including six Americans, as hopes of forming a new government were dashed by last-minute disagreements.
The Russian-built Mi-8 helicopter was hit by a rocket- propelled grenade as it flew over a deserted area north of Baghdad, Bulgarian officials and the U.S. military said. It was believed to be the first downing of a civilian aircraft in Iraq.
A militant group said it had shot down the helicopter.
"The Islamic Army in Iraq claims responsibility for bringing down a ... cargo aircraft and killing all those on board," said a short posting on a Web site often used by Iraqi rebels, adding a full statement and video would follow.
The authenticity of the brief statement could not be verified but it was posted by a user who often releases statements from the group.
Thursday's attack came amid a rebound in guerrilla activity in the past two weeks, with more than 20 car bombings in Baghdad and an increase in ambushes, shootings and assassinations.
The violence threatens to overshadow attempts by Iraq's new leaders to form a government nearly three months after elections, amid growing tensions between Iraq's majority Shi'ite and once-dominant Sunni Muslim communities.
There had been hopes a new government would be announced on Thursday but disagreements surfaced again late Wednesday between Shi'ites, who won the Jan. 30 election, and other factions, including interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's.
US PASSENGERS KILLED
Bulgarian company Heli Air told Reuters that three Bulgarian crew were killed when the helicopter was shot down, as well as six U.S. passengers and two guards from an unspecified country.
All on board were civilians, U.S. military officials said.
The Americans worked for Blackwater security consultants.
"This is a very sad day for the Blackwater family," said Blackwater USA President Gary Jackson. "We lost a number of our friends to attacks by terrorists in Iraq and our thoughts and prayers go out to their family members."
The company said that in a separate incident, another employee was killed when an improvised explosive device was detonated next to his armored personnel carrier near Ramadi.
Television footage showed a mangled and still-burning wreckage from the attack on the helicopter. Its bulk was destroyed, but rotor blades and what appeared to be two engines were visible. Two charred bodies could be seen near the site.
Insurgents frequently fire on U.S. aircraft and have brought down several helicopters before. A U.S. Chinook transporter was shot down west of Baghdad in November 2003, killing at least 16 U.S. troops and wounding more than 20.
Ten British troops died on Jan. 30 when a C-130 Hercules transport plane came down north of Baghdad. The cause remains unclear but officials have said it may have been shot down.
The only civilian aircraft believed to have been struck was a DHL transport plane hit by a rocket as it departed Baghdad airport in November 2003. It managed to turn and land safely.
GOVERNMENT DELAY
The constant delays in a forming a government have heightened sectarian tensions, and also seem to have added fuel to the insurgency, which appeared to taper after the elections.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Hussain al-Shahristani, a senior member of the main Shi'ite alliance, said they did not think a deal would be sealed Thursday, as previously hoped.
Allawi rejected in talks Wednesday an offer to join the cabinet, sources involved in the negotiations said.
"The talks were going well, but the Shi'ites offered Allawi just two ministries, not the four that he wants, and he rejected the offer," one source said.
"There was also continued disagreement over what ministries the Sunnis should get. The question really is whether the Shi'ites want to create a government of national unity, or just a Shi'ite-Kurd government," he said.
Shortly after Wednesday's talks, Allawi narrowly escaped an assassination attempt. Al Qaeda in Iraq, a militant group led by Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on the Internet. The group has claimed responsibility for a series of bombings over the last month.
Thursday, a roadside bomb hit a convoy carrying foreign security contractors on the road to Baghdad's airport, killing two people. Three foreign contractors -- an American, an Australian and a Canadian -- were killed on the same stretch of road Wednesday, their employer confirmed Thursday. And two U.S. soldiers were killed in the same vicinity Tuesday.
The inability to secure the airport road, an essential link for military and civilian supplies, has come to symbolise the difficulty U.S. forces face in tackling the insurgency.
(Additional reporting by Ian Simpson, Lutfi Abu-Oun in Baghdad, Gareth Jones in Ankara and Michael Winfrey in Sofia) |
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Dirt
Exercise Boy
Joined: 19 May 2003
Posts: 2086
Location: a tree
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| Thu Apr 21, 2005 4:20 pm |
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What did I say, same sh....  It is truuuuue
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