US helicopter crash kills 13

A US helicopter crashed north-east of Baghdad today, killing all 13 people on board, the US military said.

The military did not give a cause for the crash, saying only that the incident was under investigation. But the brief statement lacked the customary comment that the aircraft was not shot down, indicating it may have come under fire by insurgents.

The helicopter was carrying 13 passengers and crew members and all were killed, it said.

No further details were released, including the exact location of the crash.

The violent Diyala province sits north-east of Baghdad, and US and Iraqi forces have been battling Sunni insurgents and Shiite militia forces around its main city of Baqouba for months.

Separately, the military also announced the deaths of two American soldiers and a Marine.

One soldier was killed today in a roadside bombing in northern Baghdad. Another was killed yesterday by a roadside bomb in the north-west province of Ninevah, while a Marine was killed yesterday in fighting in Anbar, the military said.

The crash highlights a major danger in Iraq as the military relies heavily on air travel to transport troops and ferry officials to avoid the dangers of roadside bombs.

The worst US aircraft accident since the war began was on January 26, 2005, when a Marine transport helicopter crashed during sandstorms in Iraq’s western desert, killing 30 Marines and a US sailor.

The deaths came as US and Iraqi forces are gearing up for a fresh neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood security sweep through the capital.