Mafkarat al-Islam is reporting eyewitnesse accounts that Iraqi Resistance forces fired a SAM 7 rocket, bringing down a U.S. helicopter over the city of ar-Rutbah, 460km west of Baghdad, Wednesday. The helicopter had been on its way to the village of Makr adh-Dhib, which lies near the city. The American forces regularly carry out helicopter landings in that area as it is virtually impossible to access the area by land.
Shepherds and motorists who witnessed the attack told Mafkarat al-Islam that they saw American soldiers gathering the remains of 31 Americans from the desert west of ar-Rutbah. The US forces also evacuated a large number of wounded troops. Other American vehicles, meanwhile, loaded up and hauled away the wreckage of the helicopter that had been scattered over an approximately two-kilometer area.Local witnesses were surprised U.S. forces announced the downing of this helicopter, something they seldom do, but, because numerous delegations of people from Baghdad and other provinces were scheduled to arrive in ar-Rutbah Wednesday and some of them were bound to have seen the crash or heard about it.
The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent reported that a local amateur photographer managed to take a video of the wreckage of the helicopter and hid it in his shoe when passing through one of the checkpoints thrown up by the Americans around the crash zone. The amateur cameraman pledged to gave the film to the Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent so still pictures from it can be shown on the website as soon as the cassette arrives in the editorial office.
The US military admitted that an American Marine helicopter had crashed in western Iraq early Wednesday morning. A statement by the US military said that the aircraft went down in the ar-Rutbah area in al-Anbar Province. It reported the helicopter had gone down because of bad weather, and said that search and rescue operations were underway.A report carried by AP later said that the CH-53 Sea Stallion was carrying personnel from the 1st Marine Division when it went down about 1:20 a.m. near the town of ar-Rutbah, about 220 miles west of Baghdad, while conducting what it called "security operations." The military statement said that 31 persons were killed aboard the craft.
The US military admitted that an American Marine helicopter had crashed in western Iraq early Wednesday morning. A statement by the US military said that the aircraft went down in the ar-Rutbah area in al-Anbar Province. It reported the helicopter had gone down because of bad weather, and said that search and rescue operations were underway.A report carried by AP later said that the CH-53 Sea Stallion was carrying personnel from the 1st Marine Division when it went down about 1:20 a.m. near the town of ar-Rutbah, about 220 miles west of Baghdad, while conducting what it called "security operations." The military statement said that 31 persons were killed aboard the craft.
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