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Black Hawk "Forced Down" In Iraq,
7 U.S. Soldiers Killed
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A video grab image shows helicopters hovering over the crash site of the Black Hawk
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MOSUL,
Iraq, November 7 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Six American
occupation forces were killed Friday, November 7, when a Black Hawk
helicopter gunship was "forced down" near Tikrit, while a
seventh soldier was killed in an ambush attack in Mosul.
"The
total number of people on board was six. All six have died," Agence
France-Presse (AFP) quoted an American military spokesman as saying.
Major
Josselyn Aberle, a spokeswoman for the 4th Infantry Division (4ID) in
the northern city, asserting that all six were U.S. soldiers.
He
stressed that the cause of the crash was being investigated, and that
officials were looking into reports that loud booms were heard just
before the Blackhawk went down.
The
Black Hawk was "forced down" Friday outside a U.S. base near
the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit.
"We
are aware of reports that a Blackhawk was forced down in the area of
Tikrit. We know it happened," a U.S. spokeswoman admitted, adding
that U.S. forces had secured the area where the military chopper went
down.
The
helicopter "landed outside the perimeter of force operation base
Ironhorse in the Tikrit area," said Lieutenant Colonel Bill
MacDonald, a spokesman for the U.S. 4th Infantry Division, which
operates in the northern area.
"At
approximately 9:40 am (0640 GMT), a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter went down
in Tikrit on the east side of the Tigris river near the main palace
complex," he said, adding "we sent rescue and security
teams."
Tikrit,
180 kilometers (110 miles) north of Baghdad, is the home town of ousted
president Saddam Hussein and has been the scene of frequent attacks
against the U.S.-led occupation forces."
A
Blackhawk helicopter was shot down near Tikrit on October 25, injuring
one crew member.
On
November 2, Iraqi fighters shot down an American Chinook
helicopter gunship outside the flashpoint town of Fallujah, west of
Baghdad, killing 16 U.S. soldiers, in what was described as the heaviest
fatalities sustained by the occupation forces since March 2003.
Soldier
Killed
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U.S. soldiers attend a memorial ceremony for the 16 colleagues killed in the shooting down of a Chinook helicopter
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In
another development, one U.S. soldier was killed and seven were wounded
when their convoy was ambushed by resistance fighters firing
rocket-propelled grenades in Mosul, a spokesman at the U.S. military
base in the city.
The
attack occurred at 7:00 am (0400 GMT) in the eastern part of Mosul, 370
kilometers (230 miles) north of Baghdad, said Major Hugh Cate.
The
latest fatalities raise to at least 149 the number of U.S. troops killed
in combat since May 1, when U.S. President George Bush declared major
hostilities had ended, according to an AFP count.
During
the main, six-week offensive before that date, 114 Americans died from
hostile fire.
Two
U.S. soldiers and a Polish officer were killed in separate
attacks in Iraq Thursday, November 6.
Iraqi
Killed
Meanwhile,
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.
Yunes
Ibrahim Hatem, 39, said it was one of four bombs which apparently
targeted an adjacent police station, where there are also U.S. troops.
The
wounded husband added that the other three fell in an empty field near
his home.
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