Posted with regret and sorrow: 8 fatalities now reported.
It appears that some peacekeepers have been lost in a helicopter accident.
The international force that monitors the Israeli-Egyptian peace agreement said Thursday that eight peacekeepers, including six Americans, were killed when one of its helicopters crashed during a routine mission in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. A ninth peacekeeper was badly injured.
The Multinational Force and Observers said a French peacekeeper and Czech member of the force were also killed. It did not release the names of the dead, pending notification of their families. It said the injured peacekeeper was American.
There's been a peacekeeping force in the Sinai for a very long time. A couple of my colleagues, some years ago, served there. A multinational effort contributed to by military personnel from many nations.
An Egyptian official speaking on condition of anonymity per regulations said the UH-60 Black Hawk was on a reconnaissance mission and crashed crashed over Red Sea waters outside Egyptian territorial boundaries, near the island of Tiran, apparently because of a technical failure.