I just got this news alert that a helicopter with at least thirty five people has been brought down, in Iraq..
at least 20 casualties reported thus far..here's from BBC
US helicopter shot down in Iraq
*An American military helicopter has been shot down at Baghdad International Airport in Iraq. *
The US Army says there are at least 20 casualties, but it is unclear whether this refers to dead or wounded.
The aircraft was one of two twin-rotored Chinook helicopters flying into the airport.
A total of 57 people were on board the two aircraft.
The attack comes amid what correspondents say are intensifying assaults against US forces occupying the country.
Eight days ago, a US Black Hawk helicopter crashed near the northern town of Tikrit after reportedly being hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.
One of the five crew members on board was hurt in that incident
From R & R to R.I.P.
There was also an incident on the ground where one soldier died. So total 14 now. They calling it the worst day for US military since March 21.
Thirteen die as US helicopter shot down!
Thirteen American soldiers have been killed and more than 20 wounded in an attack on a US military helicopter.
It is the highest number of casualties suffered by the US-led coalition in a single incident since Saddam Hussein was toppled in April.
The helicopter came down in a cornfield near the flashpoint town of Falluja, 50 kilometres (32 miles) west of the capital.
Iraqi witnesses said it was hit by one of two surface-to-air missiles fired at it, but a US military spokesman has said it may have crashed while taking evasive action.
Thirteen die as US helicopter downed
No veitnam is what they was saying!
who are the missing ones..?>
Chopper Shot Down in Iraq, Killing 13 GIs
Missile Downs U.S. Chopper in Iraq, Killing 13 GIs, in Deadliest Day for American Occupation
The Associated Press
FALLUJAH, Iraq Nov. 2 — A U.S. Chinook helicopter carrying troops en route home for leave was struck by a missile Sunday and crashed west of Baghdad, killing 13 soldiers and wounding more than 20, the U.S. command and witnesses reported.
It was the deadliest day for American troops in the six-month-old occupation of Iraq, and came amid threats attributed to Saddam Hussein's party of a wave of violence against the U.S. occupation.
There was still no sign of the rumored "Day of Resistance" allegedly planned for Baghdad on Saturday. But at least one other American soldier was confirmed killed Sunday in ground attacks here and elsewhere in central Iraq.
Witnesses said they saw two missiles fired at the heavy transport copter, the biggest U.S. target yet shot from the skies by Iraq's insurgents. It had been ferrying soldiers to Baghdad International Airport for flights out of the country for rest and relaxation, or R&R.
The aircraft was hit at about 9 a.m. and crashed amid cornfields near the village of Hasi, about 40 miles southwest of Baghdad and just south of Fallujah, a center of Sunni Muslim resistance to the U.S. occupation.
Insurgents have fired on U.S. aircraft before, downing two helicopters, and American military officials have repeatedly warned that hundreds of shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles remain unaccounted for in Iraq since the collapse of Saddam's regime in April.
"The Chinook was shot down by an unknown weapon," a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad said on condition of anonymity. U.S. command in Baghdad said there were 13 killed and more than 20 wounded, and that a search was under way for possible other survivors.
The death toll surpasses the March 23 ambush of the 507th Maintenance Company, in which 11 soldiers were killed, nine were wounded and seven captured, including Pvt. Jessica Lynch.
The helicopter was part of a formation of two Chinooks carrying a total of more than 50 passengers to the U.S. base at the former Saddam International Airport, renamed Baghdad International Airport, which the military calls BIA.
"Our initial report is that they were being transported to BIA for R&R flights," a U.S. command spokeswoman in Baghdad said. She said at least some were coming from Camp Ridgway, believed to be an 82nd Airborne Division base in western Iraq.
At the scene, villager Thaer Ali, 21, said someone fired two missiles from the area of a date palm grove about 500 yards from where the stricken copter crashed.
Yassin Mohamed, another witness, said he ran out of his house, a half-mile away, when he heard an explosion. "I saw the Chinook burning. I ran toward it because I wanted to help put out the fire, but couldn't get near because of American soldiers."
Witnesses said the second copter hovered over the downed craft for some minutes and then set down, apparently to try to help extinguish a fire. The downed copter was already destroyed.
At least a half-dozen Black Hawk helicopters later hovered over the area, and dozens of soldiers swarmed over the site. Injured were still being evacuated at least two hours later. Villagers displayed blackened pieces of wreckage to arriving reporters.
"This was a new lesson from the resistance, a lesson to the greedy aggressors," said one Iraqi in nearby Fallujah, who wouldn't give his name. "They'll never be safe until they get out of our country," he said of the Americans.
Others were celebrating word of the helicopter downing and also a fresh attack on U.S. soldiers in Fallujah itself, where witnesses said an explosion struck one vehicle in a U.S. Army convoy at about 9 a.m. Sunday. They claimed four soldiers died, but U.S. military sources said they couldn't confirm the report.
In a separate incident, the U.S. command said a soldier from the 1st Armored Division was killed just after midnight in an explosion in Baghdad.
In the Abu Ghraib suburb, local Iraqis said U.S. troops arrived Sunday morning and ordered people to disperse from the marketplace and remove what the Iraqis said were religious posters from walls. Someone then tossed a grenade at the Americans, witnesses said, and the soldiers opened fire.
The U.S. command said it had no immediate information, but Iraqi witnesses said they believed three or four Americans were killed and six to seven Iraqis were wounded.
The presence of the portable anti-aircraft missiles has represented a significant threat for military aircraft and raised concerns over the security of the few commercial flights in and out of Baghdad International Airport. The U.S.-led coalition has offered rewards of $500 apiece to Iraqis who turn the weapons in.
The Chinook was the third helicopter known to have been brought down by Iraq's insurgents since President Bush declared an end to major combat in Iraq on May 1.
A U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter crash-landed Oct. 25 in Tikrit after being hit by an unknown weapon, injuring one crewmember. On June 12, a U.S. Army Apache attack helicopter was shot down by hostile fire in the western desert, and two crewmembers were rescued unhurt.
The Pentagon had announced Friday it was expanding the home leave program for troops in Iraq, to fly more soldiers out of the region each day and take them to more U.S. airports. As of Sunday, it said, the number of soldiers departing daily via a transit facility in neighboring Kuwait would be increased to 480, from 280.
The workhorse, 10-ton Chinook, which has a crew of four, is the military's most versatile heavy-lift helicopter, used primarily for troop movements, transporting artillery and similar functions.
The downing of the Chinook came after what U.S. occupation chief L. Paul Bremer on Saturday called "a tough week" in Iraq, beginning with an insurgent rocket attack on Sunday against a Baghdad hotel housing hundreds of his Coalition Provisional Authority staff members. One was killed and 15 wounded in that attack.
A day later, four coordinated suicide bombings in Baghdad killed three dozen people and wounded more than 200, and that was followed by widespread rumors and leaflets threatening an escalation in the anti-U.S. resistance.
Attacks against U.S. forces had already stepped up in the previous week, to an average of 33 a day.
Well 15 US soldiers are now reported killed in the downing of the helicopter.
Fifteen die as US helicopter downed](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3234543.stm)
Plus upto 5 US soldiers have possibly been killed on other attacks in Baghdad and Fallujah. One American soldier died when his convoy was attacked in the early hours in Baghdad, while unconfirmed reports say up to four Americans were killed in an attack on a convoy in Falluja.
Were any crops destroyed when it went down and is the US willing to compensate?
Chota-concerned
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Chota: *
Were any crops destroyed when it went down and is the US willing to compensate?
Chota-concerned
[/QUOTE]
I think we should be more concerned as to the 21 US soldiers that were injured in the downing of the Chinook Helicopter. One wonders how badly injured they are?
Yes sorry, them too Malik, but at the end of the day they're all vegetables though aren't they?
Re: Thirteen die as US helicopter shot down!
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by ak47: *
...
Iraqi witnesses said it was hit by one of two surface-to-air missiles fired at it, but a US military spokesman has said it may have crashed while taking evasive action....
[/QUOTE]
No no no... the chopper crashed due to some malfunction the missiles fired were miles away, enemy doesn't have arsenal better than us.
Wait for dubya to come out and say Iran and Syria are supporting Saddam loyalists and B L company.
A sad day for American public, lets see if that can cause a change of heart.
What was it that Dubya said when the resistance first apeared in Iraq?
Oh yes I just remembered, he said "Bring them on."
I hope it was a good fireworks display for the Iraqi's.
That is ironic and sad indeed... afterall people have lost their lives. However, keeping the concerns for humanity aside, I wonder whether Iraq will in someway become another Vietnam for US forces.
Would there be more coercion on Pakistan and other states to send their troops to Iraq in the wake of this latest incident?
i wouldve felt a bit of remorse but that was lost when i heard a US tank crushed a little boy who was waiting in his fathers car for him to come out from Jumma
Chosen1 they should bring em on they deserve it!
What a bloody day for the US, a couple of days after fourteen iraqi civilians were butchered by the US army, in Baghdad.
I think the death toll in chopper crash is much higher than fifteen, and hardly anyone could have survived the crash like this one. The number of casualties will slowly rise, or the actual death numbers may never be told.
Four more killed in Falujah according to aljazeera.
US helicopter downed near Baghdad - 15 dead
Sunday 02 November 2003, 18:55 Makka Time, 15:55 GMT
Fifteen_US soldiers are_dead_after_their helicopter was brought down as it headed to_Baghdad.
A spokesman from the US occupation force said_on Sunday at least 21 other_passengers were_injured when the Chinook helicopter came down.
It was the bloodiest resistance_attack against occupation troops since US and British forces ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on 9 April.
The chopper was fired at with an "unknown weapon" as it headed to Baghdad's international airport, said a military spokesman._
Military officials said the attack occurred south of Falluja, a flashpoint town 50 km (30 miles) west of the capital.
It was the third US helicopter known to have been brought down by Iraqi resistance fighters since_US President George Bush declared an end to major combat in Iraq on 1_May.__
US troops told journalists to leave the area and confiscated their film as another military medical helicopter with a red cross sign on its side landed.
*More resistance attacks *
**In Falluja, residents said a roadside bomb had hit a convoy of US soldiers in civilian vehicles, killing four troops. US military_officials could not confirm the report._
At least one vehicle was ablaze at the scene, where crowds gathered to celebrate and shout anti-US slogans. **
Falluja residents_celebrate near
attacked US convoy
Television pictures showed images of people dancing near the wreckage.
In a separate incident in the capital, another US soldier was killed when a convoy he was_travelling in came_under bomb_attack, according to a military_spokesman._
The soldier was evacuated to hospital after the blast in the early hours of the day, but died a few hours later.
Clashes in Abu Ghraib
Meanwhile, troops clashed with townspeople_in Abu Ghraib, on the western edge of Baghdad for the second time in three days._
Witnesses reported casualties among both the Americans and Iraqis, but there was no immediate official confirmation.
On Saturday,_four civilians_and a policeman were killed in clashes at_Abu Ghraib's_marketplace. _
The clashes_began when US troops tried to clear market stalls from a main road, according to_witnesses.
_Leaflets circulating in the capital and attributed by locals_to resistance fighters have proclaimed the first two days of November "days of resistance" to mark the 6-month anniversary of President George Bush's 1 May announcement that major combat was over.
Excuse me Mr but how am I celebrating death I consider that a slur on my online personality!
I was merely highlighting the environmental damage created by this war, the DU will certainly help the corn grow in the once fertile crescent but I'm not about to eat a 15 foot green glowing cob and I don't expect the Iraqi's to either.
Soliders die that's their job. Let's not get into knots over it.
They are occupiers and the Iraqis are stribing to drive them out of the lands they occupied.
Secondly I never saw any condemnation of over 9000+ Iraqi civilians murdered by the occupying by forces by those who are now trying to take the high moral ground.
Don't take it as an insult, just recognizing your true colors Chota.
Yes normal Iraqis have rockets and what not and didn’t use them against Saddam because he was a great and fairleader right chosen1? I despise when innocents die. I don't believe I heard condemnation of those hundreds of thousands killed under Saddams rule, but afterall he was Muslim is that the difference here, please explain I want to know.
we only seem to hear condemnation when its aired on the news
i dont know how saddam can be called a muslim if he did everything in the book that denounced him of being a Muslim