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U.S. helicopter crash kills 15 in Iraq
Deadliest day for U.S. troops in Iraq since March
Sunday, November 2, 2003 Posted: 12:20 PM EST (1720 GMT)
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A U.S. military transport helicopter crashed Sunday near Fallujah, Iraq, killing 15 U.S. troops and wounding 21 others, the U.S. military said.
Spokesman Col. William Darley said witnesses reported seeing missile trails when the CH-47 Chinook went down, but he said the official cause of the crash has not been determined. At least some of the soldiers aboard the Chinook were about to go on leave, he said.
Three other attacks also occurred Sunday in which at least one U.S. soldier died. It was the deadliest day in Iraq for U.S. forces since March.
The attacks came as coalition forces were on alert for a threatened "day of resistance" by anti-coalition guerrillas following a warning from the U.S. Consulate Office in Baghdad.
The helicopter went down near the city of Amiryah, according to a statement from the U.S. Central Command.
It was carrying troops to Baghdad from an 82nd Airborne Division camp outside Fallujah, a hotbed of resistance to U.S. troops. The Army has not identified the units of the dead and wounded soldiers, pending notification of relatives, Darley said.
The CH-47 Chinook is a twin-engine, tandem rotor helicopter designed to transport cargo, troops and weapons.
In Washington, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called the deaths tragic. He said the people who are resisting the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq and the establishment of a new government there are "going to be beaten eventually."
"In a long, hard war, we're going to have tragic days, as this is," Rumsfeld told ABC's "This Week." "But they're necessary. They're part of a war that's difficult and complicated."
Rumsfeld said portable surface-to-air missiles "are widely available and do have the ability to shoot down a helicopter, and from time to time, this happens."
In an attack on a convoy in Baghdad, a U.S. soldier died when an improvised explosive device detonated and struck his vehicle, according to coalition officials.
There has been no word on casualties in two other attacks Sunday: a convoy attack in Fallujah and a grenade attack in a market west of Baghdad.
After the convoy attack, Iraqi men gathered around the burning vehicle chanting, "This is the Fallujah, this is the Fallujah."
In the attack in the Abu Ghraib market west of Baghdad, Iraqis threw grenades at a U.S. military patrol. The area is where U.S. troops killed 14 Iraqis Friday after they were attacked with grenades and small arms fire.
Sunday's coalition death toll is second only to March 23, the day 29 American troops died in combat. That was the day 11 soldiers died in the ambush on a convoy of the Army's 507th Maintenance Company and 18 U.S. Marines were killed near Nasiriya, Iraq.
Two U.S. soldiers killed Saturday
On Saturday, two U.S. soldiers were killed in an explosion near the northern city of Mosul. The soldiers, from the 101st Airborne Division, were killed when their convoy struck an improvised explosive device. Two other soldiers were injured.
In a bid to boost security and stability, U.S. administrator for Iraq L. Paul Bremer said the United States is stepping up efforts to hand over more responsibility to Iraqis themselves.
Coalition forces will speed up the training of Iraqi police and military, he said, and the size of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps will be doubled by March.
"We will have over 200,000 Iraqis involved in their own security forces by September next year," Bremer added.
Despite the attacks, the U.S.-led coalition had been able to reopen justice courts, build jails and recruit 50,000 Iraqi police officers.
A coalition military official said 33 attempted attacks are made against U.S. troops every day. Coalition officials blame forces loyal to ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, terrorist groups and other insurgents for the attacks.
Bremer said officials believe Saddam is alive and in Iraq, though there is "no indication" he is behind the attacks.
But he added: "His capture, or killing him, is one of the top priorities."
The 16 deaths Sunday brings to 138 the number of U.S. combat fatalities since President Bush declared an end to major hostilities May 1, according to the U.S. military.
There is no reliable source for Iraqi civilian or combatant casualty figures, either during the period of major combat or after May 1. The Associated Press reported an estimated 3,240 civilian Iraqi deaths between March 20 and April 20, but the AP reported that the figure was based on records of only half of Iraq's hospitals and the actual number was thought to be significantly higher.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/...ain/index.html
Deadliest day for U.S. troops in Iraq since March
Sunday, November 2, 2003 Posted: 12:20 PM EST (1720 GMT)
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A U.S. military transport helicopter crashed Sunday near Fallujah, Iraq, killing 15 U.S. troops and wounding 21 others, the U.S. military said.
Spokesman Col. William Darley said witnesses reported seeing missile trails when the CH-47 Chinook went down, but he said the official cause of the crash has not been determined. At least some of the soldiers aboard the Chinook were about to go on leave, he said.
Three other attacks also occurred Sunday in which at least one U.S. soldier died. It was the deadliest day in Iraq for U.S. forces since March.
The attacks came as coalition forces were on alert for a threatened "day of resistance" by anti-coalition guerrillas following a warning from the U.S. Consulate Office in Baghdad.
The helicopter went down near the city of Amiryah, according to a statement from the U.S. Central Command.
It was carrying troops to Baghdad from an 82nd Airborne Division camp outside Fallujah, a hotbed of resistance to U.S. troops. The Army has not identified the units of the dead and wounded soldiers, pending notification of relatives, Darley said.
The CH-47 Chinook is a twin-engine, tandem rotor helicopter designed to transport cargo, troops and weapons.
In Washington, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called the deaths tragic. He said the people who are resisting the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq and the establishment of a new government there are "going to be beaten eventually."
"In a long, hard war, we're going to have tragic days, as this is," Rumsfeld told ABC's "This Week." "But they're necessary. They're part of a war that's difficult and complicated."
Rumsfeld said portable surface-to-air missiles "are widely available and do have the ability to shoot down a helicopter, and from time to time, this happens."
In an attack on a convoy in Baghdad, a U.S. soldier died when an improvised explosive device detonated and struck his vehicle, according to coalition officials.
There has been no word on casualties in two other attacks Sunday: a convoy attack in Fallujah and a grenade attack in a market west of Baghdad.
After the convoy attack, Iraqi men gathered around the burning vehicle chanting, "This is the Fallujah, this is the Fallujah."
In the attack in the Abu Ghraib market west of Baghdad, Iraqis threw grenades at a U.S. military patrol. The area is where U.S. troops killed 14 Iraqis Friday after they were attacked with grenades and small arms fire.
Sunday's coalition death toll is second only to March 23, the day 29 American troops died in combat. That was the day 11 soldiers died in the ambush on a convoy of the Army's 507th Maintenance Company and 18 U.S. Marines were killed near Nasiriya, Iraq.
Two U.S. soldiers killed Saturday
On Saturday, two U.S. soldiers were killed in an explosion near the northern city of Mosul. The soldiers, from the 101st Airborne Division, were killed when their convoy struck an improvised explosive device. Two other soldiers were injured.
In a bid to boost security and stability, U.S. administrator for Iraq L. Paul Bremer said the United States is stepping up efforts to hand over more responsibility to Iraqis themselves.
Coalition forces will speed up the training of Iraqi police and military, he said, and the size of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps will be doubled by March.
"We will have over 200,000 Iraqis involved in their own security forces by September next year," Bremer added.
Despite the attacks, the U.S.-led coalition had been able to reopen justice courts, build jails and recruit 50,000 Iraqi police officers.
A coalition military official said 33 attempted attacks are made against U.S. troops every day. Coalition officials blame forces loyal to ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, terrorist groups and other insurgents for the attacks.
Bremer said officials believe Saddam is alive and in Iraq, though there is "no indication" he is behind the attacks.
But he added: "His capture, or killing him, is one of the top priorities."
The 16 deaths Sunday brings to 138 the number of U.S. combat fatalities since President Bush declared an end to major hostilities May 1, according to the U.S. military.
There is no reliable source for Iraqi civilian or combatant casualty figures, either during the period of major combat or after May 1. The Associated Press reported an estimated 3,240 civilian Iraqi deaths between March 20 and April 20, but the AP reported that the figure was based on records of only half of Iraq's hospitals and the actual number was thought to be significantly higher.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/...ain/index.html
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