Attack on helicopter claims the life of British servicewoman

AN apparent rocket strike on a helicopter in Iraq claimed the life of the first British servicewoman killed in action for more than 20 years, it emerged last night.

Flight Lieutenant Sarah-Jayne Mulvihill was among five victims of Saturday’s crash in Basra named by the British Ministry of Defence yesterday.

The 32-year-old was a passenger in the ill-fated Lynx helicopter along with Wing Commander John Coxen, who became the most senior officer killed during the campaign.

Pilots Lieutenant Commander Darren Chapman and Captain David Dobson also died, along with gunner Paul Collins.

Prime Minister Tony Blair joined the casualties’ families and colleagues in paying tribute to their “heroism, commitment and professionalism” as investigators continued to sift through wreckage in Basra.

Flt Lt Mulvihill was on her second deployment in Iraq, serving as a flight operations officer.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defence said that if the helicopter had been brought down by an attack, it was thought to be the first time a servicewoman had been killed by enemy action since the 1980s.

Ulster Defence Regiment Corporal Heather Kerrigan, 20, was killed by an IRA landmine in Co Tyrone, in July 1984.

One servicewoman has died during Operation Telic in Iraq, but it is not thought to have been related to the hostilities.

Meanwhile, two Iraqi journalists were found dead south of Baghdad yesterday, a day after they were stopped by men wearing police uniforms, said Abdul-Karim al-Mehdawi, the manager of their television station.

The bodies of Laith al-Dulaimi and Muazaz Ahmed were discovered near the town of Madain, about 19 kilometres south-east of the capital.