Four U.S. soldiers were killed in Kuwait on Tuesday when their helicopter crashed during training in the desert, the U.S. military said. Their UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter went down near Camp New Jersey, a temporary U.S. military base 30 miles north of Kuwait City, while conducting night training, a U.S. military statement said. The four were the only people aboard.
The soldiers' identification is being withheld pending notification of next-of-kin. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Tens of thousands of U.S. troops are in the Gulf Arab state to prepare for a possible assault on neighboring Iraq to force the government of President Saddam Hussein to give up its alleged weapons of mass destruction.

Kuwait Holds 3 for Planning Attacks on U.S. Forces

On Monday, Kuwait said its security forces had arrested three Kuwaitis for allegedly planning attacks on U.S. forces training in the Gulf state for a possible war on neighboring Iraq.

An Interior Ministry official told the state-run news agency KUNA that arms and ammunition were seized during the arrests.
The official named the three men as Ahmad Mutlaq Nasser al-Mutairi, aged about 29; Abdullah Mutlaq Nasser al-Mutairi, about 32; and Mussaed Huran Shebib al-Anzi, who was about 28.

A U.S. marine and an American civilian working for the military have been killed in a string of attacks on Americans in the Gulf Arab state in recent months.

PHOTO CAPTION

Troops from 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit wait to board a CH-46E Sea Knight helicopter during a drill in Kuwaiti desert near Iraq on February 23, 2003. (Oleg Popov/Re