2 U. S. copters collide in Baghdad
Iraqi killed; injured include 2 Americans
BAGHDAD — Two U. S. helicopters collided Saturday while landing at a base in Baghdad, killing one Iraqi soldier and injuring four people, including two Americans, the military said. It was the second American helicopter crash in two weeks.
The U. S. military said hostile fire did not appear to be the cause.
Also Saturday, the military said U. S. troops killed an al- Qaida in Iraq leader suspected of masterminding one of the deadliest attacks in Baghdad, several other recent bombings and the 2006 videotaped killing of a Russian official.
The two UH-60 Black Hawks crashed shortly before 9 p. m. in a northern section of the capital, the military said. The injured included two American troops and two other Iraqis, but the total number of people on board was not yet known.
An investigation into the crash was under way.
Two Iraqi police officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the crash occurred during clashes between gunmen and U. S.-backed Iraqi forces.
But Lt. Patrick Evans, a U. S. military spokesman, said, “We have absolutely no reports of any clashes taking place nearby.”
A witness who identified himself only by his nickname Abu Sattar said that, while receiving guests in his house, he heard a big explosion.
“We went outside the house, and we saw a fire coming from nearby. Then we heard the sounds of gunfire, and U. S. soldiers came and sealed off the area,” he said.
The U. S. military relies on helicopters to ferry troops, dignitaries and supplies to avoid the threat of ambushes and roadside bombs. At least 70 U. S. helicopters have gone down since the war started in March 2003, according to military figures. Of those, 36 were confirmed to have been shot down.
A CH-47 Chinook en route from Kuwait crashed Sept. 18 in the southern Iraqi desert about 60 miles west of Basra, killing all seven American soldiers on board.
The military said that crash apparently was caused by a mechanical problem.
Mahir Ahmad Mahmud al- Zubaydi, the al-Qaida in Iraq, leader was killed Friday in northern Baghdad.
American troops also killed his wife in a firefight as they tried to capture him, the military said.
Al-Zubaydi, also known as Abu Assad or Abu Rami, was accused of directing an insurgent cell believed to be responsible for nearly simultaneous car bomb and suicide attacks Thursday in two Shiite mosques in Baghdad, according to the statement.
Iraqi police and hospital officials said about two dozen people were killed.
The military also blamed al- Zubaydi for several car bombings and mortar attacks in Baghdad’s main Shiite district of Sadr City in 2006 and last year, including a series of blasts that killed more than 200 people on Nov. 23, 2006 — one of the deadliest attacks to strike the Iraqi capital.
Al-Zubaydi also was believed to have planned and participated in abductions and videotaped executions, including one in which he was seen shooting one of four kidnapped Russians, according to the statement.
The Russian Embassy workers were abducted in June 2006 after an attack on their car in Baghdad’s Mansour neighborhood. They and a fifth Russian later were killed.
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