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Al-Qaida in Iraq claims responsibility for downing of U.S. helicopter that killed two Marines
BAGHDAD, Iraq - (AP) Al-Qaida in Iraq on Thursday claimed to have
shot down a U.S. military attack helicopter that crashed west of Baghdad,
killing its two Marine crewmembers.
"Brethren in al-Qaida in Iraq's military wing downed a Super Cobra
attack helicopter in Ramadi with a Strella rocket, thanks be to God," the
group said in a statement which was posted on an Islamist Web forum often
used for its claims and which bore the nickname of the group's spokesperson,
Abu Maysara al-Iraqi.
The authenticity of the statement could not be confirmed.
The military confirmed the crash on Wednesday of a Marine AH-1W
Super Cobra attack helicopter near the town of Ramadi, an insurgent
stronghold west of Baghdad, and sasid two Marines on board were killed.
It did not specify the cause of the crash, but spokesman Maj. Gen.
Rick Lynch said Thursday that witnesses reported seeing a projectile fired
at the copter, which broke up in the air. Hours after the crash, a U.S.
fighter jet dropped two 500-pound bombs on what the U.S. military described
as an "insurgent command center" about 400 meters (yards) from where the
helicopter went down.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - (AP) Al-Qaida in Iraq on Thursday claimed to have
shot down a U.S. military attack helicopter that crashed west of Baghdad,
killing its two Marine crewmembers.
"Brethren in al-Qaida in Iraq's military wing downed a Super Cobra
attack helicopter in Ramadi with a Strella rocket, thanks be to God," the
group said in a statement which was posted on an Islamist Web forum often
used for its claims and which bore the nickname of the group's spokesperson,
Abu Maysara al-Iraqi.
The authenticity of the statement could not be confirmed.
The military confirmed the crash on Wednesday of a Marine AH-1W
Super Cobra attack helicopter near the town of Ramadi, an insurgent
stronghold west of Baghdad, and sasid two Marines on board were killed.
It did not specify the cause of the crash, but spokesman Maj. Gen.
Rick Lynch said Thursday that witnesses reported seeing a projectile fired
at the copter, which broke up in the air. Hours after the crash, a U.S.
fighter jet dropped two 500-pound bombs on what the U.S. military described
as an "insurgent command center" about 400 meters (yards) from where the
helicopter went down.