A U.S. Black Hawk helicopter crashed Saturday afternoon northeast of the capital, killing all 13 American soldiers on board, and at least seven soldiers died in other parts of the country, officials said. The deaths made the day the third-deadliest for U.S. service members in Iraq since the war began.
The incidents came as the Bush administration was extending the tours of some troops in Iraq and sending additional ones for a buildup that has met strong resistance in the U.S. Congress. The administration has billed the increase as a key step toward securing the viability of Iraq's young government and bringing down the level of violence.
The helicopter went down about 3 p.m. in a barren area south of Baqubah in Diyala province. According to media reports, several parts of the province have come under Sunni insurgent control in recent months.
The military said the cause of the crash was under investigation. Officials declined to release the soldiers' names and units pending notification of their families.
Another helicopter traveling nearby, as is standard in military operations, remained in the air awaiting backup after the crash, Aberle said.
Navy Capt. Frank Pascual, a member of a U.S. media relations team in the United Arab Emirates, told al-Arabiya television that the helicopter was believed to have suffered technical troubles before going down, the Associated Press reported.
Arkan al-Mujamai, 28, a day laborer who lives near the crash site, said in a telephone interview that the helicopter was shot down by a group of Sunni Muslim insurgents, one of whom is his uncle.
According to a database on military deaths kept by The Washington Post, 164 Americans have died in helicopter crashes in Iraq during the war.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
