11 killed as civilian helicopter is shot down in Iraq

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Insurgents in Iraq shot down a commercial helicopter chartered by the US defence department yesterday, killing all 11 people on board, including six American military contractors. A rocket-propelled grenade hit the Russian-built Mi-8 helicopter near the town of Tarmiya, 25 miles north of Baghdad, just before 2pm local time, according to US and Bulgarian military officials. Television pictures showed two charred bodies lying near the burning wreckage of what was believed to be the first civilian aircraft shot down in two years of resistance to US-led multinational forces. The Islamic Army in Iraq, a leading militant group, claimed responsibility in an internet statement. The three crew members were Bulgarian, six passengers worked for the US military contractor Blackwater and two were Filipino guards. A Canadian-based company, SkyLink Aviation Inc, had contracted the helicopter, which was owned by a Bulgarian company, Heli Air. It was heading for Tikrit. [more]