rotornut
14th Apr 2004, 11:11
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/040413/ap/d81tv9ng0.html
Tuesday April 13, 22:10 PM
Troops Attacked After Iraq Copter Crash
Photo: AP
A U.S. military helicopter went down Tuesday outside Fallujah with no reported injuries to the crew, although a team securing the site later suffered unspecified casualties when it was ambushed by insurgents, a Marine commander said.
Masked militants said they hit the chopper with a rocket-propelled grenade, although Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne said it was not known why the Sikorsky H-53 went down.
U.S. troops later blew it up to keep it from being looted, he said.
Troops extracted those on board, and "there is no indication the crew was injured," Byrne said. He was not certain how many were aboard the aircraft, which was not part of his 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment.
The team that secured the craft was ambushed by gunmen using small weapons, RPGs and mortars, and it suffered casualties, Byrne said, but he would not give details.
Another team went in afterward and blew up the craft to prevent it from being looted, he said.
An AP reporter later saw the craft burning in a field 12 miles east of Fallujah. Around a dozen masked gunmen were near the wreckage, at least one carrying RPG launchers.
"The helicopter was passing overhead, and we happened to be hiding here. We fired an RPG at it and it fell," said a masked gunman, who carried an RPG launcher.
While Fallujah has been relatively calm for four days, the area between the besieged city and Baghdad has seen heavy clashes between gunmen and U.S. forces. Insurgents shot down another Apache on Sunday in nearby Abu Ghraib, killing its two crew members.
A U.S. convoy was attacked near the same site, and two Humvees and a truck were burning, said witnesses, who also reported U.S. casualties.
Tuesday April 13, 22:10 PM
Troops Attacked After Iraq Copter Crash
Photo: AP
A U.S. military helicopter went down Tuesday outside Fallujah with no reported injuries to the crew, although a team securing the site later suffered unspecified casualties when it was ambushed by insurgents, a Marine commander said.
Masked militants said they hit the chopper with a rocket-propelled grenade, although Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne said it was not known why the Sikorsky H-53 went down.
U.S. troops later blew it up to keep it from being looted, he said.
Troops extracted those on board, and "there is no indication the crew was injured," Byrne said. He was not certain how many were aboard the aircraft, which was not part of his 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment.
The team that secured the craft was ambushed by gunmen using small weapons, RPGs and mortars, and it suffered casualties, Byrne said, but he would not give details.
Another team went in afterward and blew up the craft to prevent it from being looted, he said.
An AP reporter later saw the craft burning in a field 12 miles east of Fallujah. Around a dozen masked gunmen were near the wreckage, at least one carrying RPG launchers.
"The helicopter was passing overhead, and we happened to be hiding here. We fired an RPG at it and it fell," said a masked gunman, who carried an RPG launcher.
While Fallujah has been relatively calm for four days, the area between the besieged city and Baghdad has seen heavy clashes between gunmen and U.S. forces. Insurgents shot down another Apache on Sunday in nearby Abu Ghraib, killing its two crew members.
A U.S. convoy was attacked near the same site, and two Humvees and a truck were burning, said witnesses, who also reported U.S. casualties.