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| Iraq-Jordan |
| US helicopter shot down, two dead |
| 2004-04-11 |
| I’m getting sick of this sh*t INSURGENTS shot down a US Apache attack helicopter in west Baghdad today, killing its two crewmembers, the military said. Heavy fighting was taking place in the area for the third straight day. "There was an AH-64 helicopter brought down by enemy fire today at about 11.05, approximately five kilometres west of Baghdad international airport. I’m sad to report that the pilots have been declared killed in action," Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt told a press conference in Baghdad. "We have a quick reaction force on site conducting a recovery of the equipment and the personnel and our hearts go out to the families," he said, The AH-64 Apache attack helicopter carries two crewmembers. A large force of tanks and Humvees moved into the main highways leading out of western Baghdad aimed at suppressing masked gunmen who have run rampant the past three days in the Abu Ghraib area near the airport. US troops blocked traffic on the main highway out of Baghdad, and shooting and explosions were heard from the Abu Ghraib district. At least four helicopters were seen hovering overhead. Gunmen on the highways past Abu Ghraib have been attacking military fuel convoys, blowing up tanker trucks. An American civilian guarding a convoy, Thomas Hammil, was kidnapped in an attack on Friday that also killed a US soldier and an Iraqi driver. Hammil’s captors have threatened to kill him if the siege against Sunni insurgents in nearby Fallujah is not lifted. Kimmitt said he had no information on reports that a second helicopter had been shot down. A total of nine US helicopters have been shot down by insurgents in Iraq since US-led coalition forces launched an invasion of the country which ousted the regime of Saddam Hussein in April 2003. |
| Posted by:tipper |