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Iraqi citizen helps Task Force Baghdad to arrest helicopter terrorists
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. military said Saturday it had detained six men suspected of shooting down a Russian-made helicopter carrying 11 civilians including six Americans north of Baghdad two days earlier. All 11 passengers and crew were killed, including one shot by insurgents.
An Iraqi civilian helped U.S. soldiers in Task Force Baghdad locate the suspects, who were apprehended at two houses Saturday afternoon, the military said in a statement. The military did not identify the suspects or specify where they were captured.
The Mi-8 helicopter was shot down about 12 miles north of Baghdad on Thursday. Two groups claimed responsibility for the attack and released video to back their claims.
The dead included six American bodyguards for U.S. diplomats, three Bulgarian crew members and two security guards from Fiji, officials said.
In one video, insurgents are seen capturing and shooting to death the lone survivor, identified as a Bulgarian pilot.
The Iraqi civilian told soldiers he knew where a blue pickup truck used in the attack was parked and led them to the site, the military said. When the soldiers reached the area, several other local residents confirmed the initial tip and showed them where the suspects lived, the statement said.
Soldiers started to search two houses at 12:30 a.m. (4:30 p.m. EDT Friday). At the first house, three men were captured and bomb-making materials were seized. At the second house, three more suspects were detained, the military said.
All six men were taken into custody for questioning. No further information was released.
The aircraft was owned by Heli Air of Bulgaria and chartered by Toronto-based SkyLink Aviation Inc., according to SkyLink air operations manager Paul Greenaway. He said it was flying to Tikrit from Baghdad's heavily guarded Green Zone, home to Iraq's parliament and many diplomats.
The six Americans were employed by Blackwater Security Consulting a subsidiary of security contractor Blackwater USA of Moyock, N.C., which had four employees slain and mutilated by insurgents in Fallujah a year ago.
The U.S.-led coalition Friday sent investigators to the scene of the crash.
The remains of those killed were taken to Balad Air Base, and an aircraft recovery team from the 3rd Infantry Division was to move the wreckage to Baghdad International Airport for further inspection, the military said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=1&u=/ap/20050423/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_helicopter
These terrorists not only record the destruction of the civilian helicopter on video, but they also kill the only survivor, the pilot.
Anyone who calls these people "freedom fighters" are sadly mistaken. The true freedom fighter is the Iraqi citizen who helped Task Force Baghdad to arrest these killers.
Edit: I found a discription of what happened on the video:
The video begins with an unseen cameraman breathing heavily and running with the camera toward burning wreckage. Two bodies are visible, one of them severely charred, nearly all its clothes burned away.
"Look at that filth," someone says in Arabic.
There are brief glimpses of a man carrying an assault rifle along with the cameraman.
The scene moves to tall grass, where a man with thinning, gray hair and wearing a blue flight suit later identified as Kostov is lying on his back, the right side of his head bloody. The helicopter's three-man crew was Bulgarian.
"Stand up! Stand up!" the cameraman shouts to Kostov in English.
"I can't, it's broken. Give me a hand," he says in accented English, raising his hands for help. "Give me your hand."
It appears the militants help pull Kostov to his feet.
"Weapons?" the gunmen shout at him in Arabic.
The cameraman tells Kostov, whose face is visible, to step back.
"Go! Go!" he shouts.
Kostov then tries to walk, limping with his back to the insurgents, who say something to him that makes him turn around. Kostov raises his hands to somebody off camera as if gesturing to them to stop what they are about to do.
"Carry out God's verdict," someone is heard saying, and the militants shoot Kostov at point-blank range, continuing even after he falls to the ground. One gunman shouts, "Allahu akbar!" ("Allah is great")
The Russian-made helicopter was carrying six American security contractors who worked as bodyguards for U.S. diplomats. Its two other passengers were Fijian helicopter security guards.
http://beta.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050422/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_helicopter_killing
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. military said Saturday it had detained six men suspected of shooting down a Russian-made helicopter carrying 11 civilians including six Americans north of Baghdad two days earlier. All 11 passengers and crew were killed, including one shot by insurgents.
An Iraqi civilian helped U.S. soldiers in Task Force Baghdad locate the suspects, who were apprehended at two houses Saturday afternoon, the military said in a statement. The military did not identify the suspects or specify where they were captured.
The Mi-8 helicopter was shot down about 12 miles north of Baghdad on Thursday. Two groups claimed responsibility for the attack and released video to back their claims.
The dead included six American bodyguards for U.S. diplomats, three Bulgarian crew members and two security guards from Fiji, officials said.
In one video, insurgents are seen capturing and shooting to death the lone survivor, identified as a Bulgarian pilot.
The Iraqi civilian told soldiers he knew where a blue pickup truck used in the attack was parked and led them to the site, the military said. When the soldiers reached the area, several other local residents confirmed the initial tip and showed them where the suspects lived, the statement said.
Soldiers started to search two houses at 12:30 a.m. (4:30 p.m. EDT Friday). At the first house, three men were captured and bomb-making materials were seized. At the second house, three more suspects were detained, the military said.
All six men were taken into custody for questioning. No further information was released.
The aircraft was owned by Heli Air of Bulgaria and chartered by Toronto-based SkyLink Aviation Inc., according to SkyLink air operations manager Paul Greenaway. He said it was flying to Tikrit from Baghdad's heavily guarded Green Zone, home to Iraq's parliament and many diplomats.
The six Americans were employed by Blackwater Security Consulting a subsidiary of security contractor Blackwater USA of Moyock, N.C., which had four employees slain and mutilated by insurgents in Fallujah a year ago.
The U.S.-led coalition Friday sent investigators to the scene of the crash.
The remains of those killed were taken to Balad Air Base, and an aircraft recovery team from the 3rd Infantry Division was to move the wreckage to Baghdad International Airport for further inspection, the military said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=1&u=/ap/20050423/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_helicopter
These terrorists not only record the destruction of the civilian helicopter on video, but they also kill the only survivor, the pilot.
Anyone who calls these people "freedom fighters" are sadly mistaken. The true freedom fighter is the Iraqi citizen who helped Task Force Baghdad to arrest these killers.
Edit: I found a discription of what happened on the video:
The video begins with an unseen cameraman breathing heavily and running with the camera toward burning wreckage. Two bodies are visible, one of them severely charred, nearly all its clothes burned away.
"Look at that filth," someone says in Arabic.
There are brief glimpses of a man carrying an assault rifle along with the cameraman.
The scene moves to tall grass, where a man with thinning, gray hair and wearing a blue flight suit later identified as Kostov is lying on his back, the right side of his head bloody. The helicopter's three-man crew was Bulgarian.
"Stand up! Stand up!" the cameraman shouts to Kostov in English.
"I can't, it's broken. Give me a hand," he says in accented English, raising his hands for help. "Give me your hand."
It appears the militants help pull Kostov to his feet.
"Weapons?" the gunmen shout at him in Arabic.
The cameraman tells Kostov, whose face is visible, to step back.
"Go! Go!" he shouts.
Kostov then tries to walk, limping with his back to the insurgents, who say something to him that makes him turn around. Kostov raises his hands to somebody off camera as if gesturing to them to stop what they are about to do.
"Carry out God's verdict," someone is heard saying, and the militants shoot Kostov at point-blank range, continuing even after he falls to the ground. One gunman shouts, "Allahu akbar!" ("Allah is great")
The Russian-made helicopter was carrying six American security contractors who worked as bodyguards for U.S. diplomats. Its two other passengers were Fijian helicopter security guards.
http://beta.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050422/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_helicopter_killing
