US: 7 soldiers die in chopper crash in Iraq

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US: 7 soldiers die in chopper crash in Iraq

9/17/2008, 11:27 p.m. EDT

By SAMEER N. YACOUB

The Associated Press

BAGHDAD (AP) — An American Chinook helicopter crashed early Thursday

as it was landing in southern Iraq, killing seven U.S. soldiers, the

military said.

The CH-47 Chinook was landing after midnight about 60 miles west of

Basra at the time of the crash, the U.S. statement said.

A spokesman for the Multi-National Force-Iraq confirmed to The

Associated Press that the helicopter had crashed. He said five had

died, and the bodies of two soldiers who had originally been missing

were found.

The spokesman said hostile fire was not suspected.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't

authorized to provide details.

The chopper was a part of an aerial convoy flying from Kuwait to the

U.S. military base at Balad just north of Baghdad. The Chinook, the

Army's workhorse, is designed to transport troops and supplies to

combat and other regions.

The statement said the incident was under investigation.

Separately, a U.S. soldier died of noncombat-related causes on

Wednesday, and an investigation into the cause of death was under

way, the military said.

On Wednesday, gunmen killed a Sunni assistant to the governor of one

of Iraq's most volatile provinces, the latest in a series of attacks

that have marred the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in Iraq.

Shamil Younis, an engineer who handled technical affairs for Gov.

Duraid Kashmola, was killed in a drive-by shooting as he was walking

home after finishing prayers at a nearby mosque in Mosul, police

said. The attack occurred shortly after iftar, the meal that breaks

the sunrise-to-sunset fast during Ramadan.

The governor, also a Sunni, confirmed the slaying and promised an

investigation. He called it " a brutal crime against this innocent,

good man. "

Kashmola, who is the governor of Ninevah province, of which Mosul is

the capital, himself survived an apparent assassination attempt this

summer.

The June 26 car bombing struck near the site where Kashmola was

inspecting damage from an earlier explosion that police believed was

meant to lure him to the market area in Mosul. At least 18 people

were killed in the attack.

Nobody claimed responsibility for the killing of Younis, but it comes

as insurgents — most of them Sunnis — are making a stand in Mosul,

360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad, after being routed

in Baghdad and other urban centers.

Violence has dropped dramatically in Iraq since last year, but a wave

of attacks coinciding with Ramadan shows that insurgents retain the

ability to strike.

The deadliest attack on Wednesday was a double car bombing in western

Baghdad, which killed at least eight people and wounded 20, a police

officer said.

The U.S. military gave a lower casualty toll, saying three Iraqi

civilians were killed and 15 others wounded.

Elsewhere in Baghdad, a roadside bomb at an intersection killed three

people and wounded six, police said. The policemen spoke on condition

of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

U.S. military officials have warned that the security gains are

fragile and urged Iraqi leaders to take advantage of the relative

calm to make progress on the political front.

Iraqi lawmakers, however, failed to agree Wednesday on a new U.N.

proposal aimed at breaking the deadlock over a law paving the way for

provincial elections, which the U.S. considers key to building peace

among the country's rival religious and ethnic communities.

The balloting has been delayed due to Kurdish objections to power-

sharing proposals for oil-rich Kirkuk, which Kurds want to annex into

their semiautonomous region.

The U.N. issued a plan that would enable elections to be held in all

provinces except Tamim, which includes Kirkuk, and creating a seven-

member committee to study the issue, lawmakers said.

But Arabs and Turkomen raised new objections, calling for a deadline

to be imposed on the committee and for the removal of the

presidential council from the process.

The parliament approved a provincial elections law earlier this year

despite a Kurdish boycott, but it was vetoed by President Jalal

Talabani, himself a Kurd, and his two deputies.

Parliament adjourned until Thursday, when it will try again to

overcome the impasse. The United Nations has warned further delay

could prevent the balloting from being held this year.

Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf,

meanwhile, said a military operation in Diyala province, northeast of

Baghdad, was making progress and could end in about two weeks.

He also said 15 suspects had been arrested in connection with a

suicide bombing that killed 22 people on Monday in the Diyala town of

Balad Ruz, 45 miles (70 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad.

___

Associated Press writers Hamid Ahmed, Sinan Salaheddin and Mazin

Yahya in Iraq and H. Reid in Amman, Jordan, contributed to

this report.

© 2008 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

[Guest guest]

I wonder is that was a special operations team? They didn't say what unit the soldiers came from so it might have been. Those guys have been really active lately, which is why the violence is down so much. Lots of bad guys killed and captured. From what I have read, during the Surge, they concentrated on taking out suicide bombers and IED placement teams that were on their way to attack targets. Pretty dangerous stuff and there have been losses, but that's to be expected.

The chopper undoubtedly crashed because they are being heavily used and many are behind on maintenance. We really need a lot of new equipment across the board, but so far, the funding for it isn't there.

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