Helicopter 'hit by missile' says Iraqi official

A Sea Knight helicopter crashed near Baghdad today, sending flames and a huge plume of black smoke into the sky, the fifth helicopter lost in Iraq in just over two weeks.

An Iraqi air force officer said it was downed by an anti-aircraft missile.

At the Pentagon, an official said there was a report that the number of people on board the helicopter was fewer than 10.

US military spokesman Major General William Caldwell said the CH-46 helicopter went down about 20 miles north west of the capital, but he declined to comment on casualties or give a cause for the crash.

“A quick reaction force is on site and the investigation is going on as we speak,” he told reporters in Baghdad.

Caldwell also said the long-awaited Baghdad security operation “is ongoing as we speak,” a day after the Iraqi prime minister acknowledged that the plan to pacify the violence-ridden capital had been slow to start and had allowed insurgents time to step up attacks that have killed hundreds of Iraqis in recent weeks.

The Iraqi general leading the security drive, Lt. Gen. Abboud Gambar, took over the operation headquarters on Monday, but there had been no announcement until today that the sweep – the third attempt to crush violence in nine months – had begun.

The US military has said the start of the operation would not be announced with great fanfare but would rather build up gradually.

“The implementation of the prime minister’s plan has already begun and will be fully implemented at a later date, having all the parts and pieces that he wants,” Caldwell said. “But portions are already being put in place, and we’ll continue to put more into place as the forces arrive and the assets become available.”

President George Bush is increasing the number of American troops in Iraq by 21,500, including 17,500 for Baghdad, as part of the efforts. But the spate of helicopter crashes underscores the dangers facing troops as they step up their presence in the Baghdad area.

Witnesses said the helicopter had been shot down in a field in the Sheik Amir area, north west of Baghdad, sending smoke rising from the scene, in a Sunni-dominated area between the Taji air base 12 miles north of Baghdad and Karmah, 50 miles to the west of the capital.

“The helicopter was flying and passed over us, then we heard the firing of a missile,” said Mohammad al-Janabi, a farmer who was speaking less than half a mile from the wreckage. “The helicopter then turned into a ball of fire. It flew in a circle twice, then it went down.”

Iraqi insurgents have used heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and shouldered-fired SA-7 anti-aircraft missiles throughout the Iraq conflict.

US officials believe Iran is supplying Shiite militias with new weapons including more powerful roadside bombs, Katysuha rockets and a newer class of rocket-propelled grenades. Some of those weapons could have found their way into the hands of Sunni insurgents, who operate around Taji.

The US military relies heavily on helicopters to avoid roadside bombs and insurgent ambushes. Any new threat to helicopters would be a serious challenge.

US forces sealed off the area and helicopters buzzed overhead as the wreckage burned in an open field, not far from at least one squat concrete building.

The CH-46 is used by the Marines primarily as a cargo and troop transport, and can carry 25 combat-loaded troops, according to the think tank GlobalSecurity.org.

The helicopter went down five days after a US Army helicopter crashed in a hail of gunfire north of Baghdad, police and witnesses said.

The US command said two crew members were killed in that crash, and the al Qaida-affiliated group the Islamic State of Iraq claimed responsibility.