US Helicopter Crashes West of Baghdad

13/01/2004| IslamWeb

A US Apache helicopter has crashed west of Baghdad but there was no immediate information on why it came down and whether there were any casualties. The helicopter, which usually carries a crew of two, crashed on Tuesday at around 9:30 a.m (06:30 GMT) near the town of Habbaniya, about 80 km west of the capital, a US military spokesman said. "We are aware a helicopter went down," the spokesman said. He added the incident was in the 82nd Airborne Division's area of operations, which covers the resistance-active Al-Anbar province where two helicopters have been shot down by resistance fire since 2 January. On 9 January, nine US soldiers were killed when their Blackhawk helicopter was shot down in Falluja. In November 17 US soldiers were killed when two Black Hawks collided near the northern city of Mosul after they came under attack. **Iraqis wounded*** Also on Tuesday, seven Iraqis were wounded when US-led occupation soldiers clashed with a crowd of jobless protestors in the southern city of Kut. "Seven wounded were admitted to the emergency room - five protestors and two female bystanders," said Dr Taha Ali Abdel Hussein. Six people suffered bullet wounds, including one woman. About 100 protestors threw grenades towards Ukrainian soldiers stationed around city hall offices. In return, the soldiers fired warning shots to disperse the mob, an AFP correspondent said. **PHOTO CAPTION*** A U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter takes off on patrol over the Iraqi capital of Baghdad January 7, 2004. (REUTERS/Alexander Demianchuk)