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Hidden with code "Policy Violation" |
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News :: Regime |
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Occupiers Hit With SAM 18 Dead In Downng Of Chopper |
Current rating: 0 |
by MAX AKA DAN Disinfo
(No verified email address) |
02 Nov 2003
Modified: 06:38:57 AM |
BAGHDAD : Eighteen occupiers dead more than 20 others were wounded when a US helicopter was shot down in Iraq
"There were 18 dead and more than 20 wounded," a facist spokesperson said. |
It was the heaviest occupation toll since the invasion of Iraq in April 9 and one of the bloodiest episodes in a bloody US-led occupation.
The Chinook helicopter crashed at 9:00 am (0600 GMT) in a field near Amariya, a suburb of the flashpoint city of Fallujah, 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of the capital.
"The search is still underway for survivors," the spokesperson said.
The helicopter was hit by a missile from an "unknown weapon" as it flew troops to Baghdad international airport en route for leave outside the country.
Farmer Mohamad al-Issawi told AFP that "a projectile struck the tail of the helicopter at around 9:00 am. I saw fire coming out of the front of the aircraft which then crashed."
The attack on the chopper -- attached to the 12th Aviation Brigade operating in support of the 82nd Airborne Division which is based at Fallujah -- coincided with rumors of three days of "resistance".
The disaster also came just two days after Washington warned of new threats against aircraft.
At the same time, the coalition announced the death of a US soldier following a roadside bomb attack in Baghdad early Sunday morning.
His was the 123rd US combat death since Washington announced the end of major fighting on May 1. It was not immediately clear if all 13 dead in the helicopter were Americans.
It was at least the fourth time since the United States declared an end to major hostilities on May 1, that the coalition has reported a helicopter attack by anti-US forces, but the first to cause fatalities.
A Blackhawk helicopter crash landed in Tikrit on October 25 after it was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade, and another chopper was forced down near the Syrian border on October 14. Two helicopters crash landed in June after being hit near the Syrian border.
The latest attack came in the wake of a warning Friday by the US State Department of "credible information that terrorists have targeted civil aviation in Iraq." The US consular office in Baghdad also warned there were reports of "possible missile attacks directed at aircraft."
The disaster came one day after the US military commander in Iraq played down spiraling violence.
Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, insisted Saturday there was "stability and security across great parts of this country" and dismissed what he called "a strategically and operationally insignificant surge of attacks."
The attack further coincided with widespread rumors in Baghdad of "a day of resistance" over the weekend.
At the same time, the US-led coalition vowed to speed up the handover of authority to the Iraqi people and give local police and defense forces a central role in securing the country.
The coalition said this was key to restoring security to Iraq and played down a recent surge in violence, but admitted the attacks would remain a hurdle on the road to rebuilding the country.
The US overseer in Iraq, Paul Bremer said he aimed to have the country's 50,000-strong police force reach 75,000 and the new Iraqi army, now consisting of only one battalion, reach 40,000 men by next September.
He and Sanchez assured Iraqis that the US-led coalition was standing firm against its multiple foes.
The message was in line with US President George W. Bush's pledge to keep US troops in Iraq despite the almost daily killing of soldiers.
"Leaving Iraq prematurely would only embolden the terrorists and increase the danger to America," he said Saturday.
Meanwhile, a diplomatic row simmered between Iraq on the one hand, and its six neighbors and Egypt on the other, who were holding a summit Sunday to discuss instability in the war-ravaged country.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher hit out at the US-backed Governing Council in Iraq on Sunday for refusing to attend the Damascus meeting.
"We haven't heard from the Iraqi foreign minister except on television where he came up with some allegations that are wrong," Maher told AFP here.
"I don't think that when you receive an invitation you answer on television," he said.
Iraq's interim foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari told reporters late Saturday night that he would not accept a last-minute invitation.
"If someone tells you at nearly one in the morning (2200 GMT) that he invites you to Damascus where the meeting starts the next day at 10 in the morning (0700 GMT), it means that this is not an invitation," he said.
Syria, which is hosting the meeting, initially left Zebari off the guest list because of continued misgivings about the legitimacy of his US-installed administration.
But at the insistence of US allies Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, Damascus agreed Friday night to extend a hasty invitation to Baghdad. The invitation was extended again Sunday before the ministers began formal talks on Iraq's growing instability, after the two-day gathering opened Saturday night.
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