Nine US soldiers die in Black Hawk crash

A Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Iraq’s violent Sunni Triangle today and all nine US troops on board were killed.

The helicopter made an “emergency landing” near Fallujah, a military spokeswoman said.

The area is a hotbed of the insurgency against the US occupation where rebels previously have shot at American. helicopters.

There were nine military personnel on board and all were killed, said Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt.

He said the reason for the emergency was not immediately clear. He said troops had secured the site of the crash and that an investigation was underway.

The Black Hawk was a medical evacuation aircraft but it was unclear if it was carrying patients, a military official said.

A US helicopter was shot down in the same area on January 2, killing one soldier, and military officials said it almost certainly was shot down by rebels.

In the deadliest single attack on US forces since the Iraq invasion, 17 soldiers were killed on November 15 when two Black Hawk helicopters collided above Mosul after what the military called a probable grenade attack.