6 U.S. Bodyguards Killed in Chopper Crash

Associated Press and Yahoo ^ | Thu, Apr 21, 2005 | THOMAS WAGNER

[bd476]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Insurgents brought down a Russian-made helicopter carrying 11 civilians with missile fire north of the capital Thursday and said they captured and shot to death the lone crew member who survived. The dead from the crash included six American bodyguards for U.S. diplomats.

The crash site of a commercial helicopter contracted by the U.S. Defense Department which was shot down by missile fire north of the Iraqi capital, Thursday, April 21, 2005, the Bulgarian Defense Ministry said in a statement. The crash killed at least six Americans and three Bulgarians, officials said. The Mi-8 helicopter went down about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Baghdad, the U.S. Embassy said. U.S. officials said they presumed the helicopter was shot down but could not confirm that until an investigation was completed. The six Americans worked for security contractor Blackwater USA, the U.S. Embassy said. (AP Photo/APTN)

The chartered flight was believed to be the first civilian aircraft shot down in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion two years ago.

An Internet statement by a group identifying itself as the Islamic Army in Iraq was accompanied by a video showing the repeated shooting of a man who was found in tall grass and forced to stand up and walk. The video showed burning wreckage just before the shooting.

"One of the crew members was captured and killed," the statement said.

The man who was shot to death in a grassy field spoke English with an accent and was wearing a blue flight suit, indicating he was one of the three Bulgarian crew members. Two Fijian helicopter security guards were also on board the flight.

The video also showed two charred bodies near the burning wreckage, about 12 miles north of Baghdad.

The authenticity of the video, posted on a Web forum often used by militant groups, could not be confirmed. A U.S. Embassy official in Baghdad said he had no knowledge that anyone on board survived the crash and was killed later.

The Mi-8 helicopter was shot out of the air as growing numbers of contractors, diplomats and other civilian officials are turning to aircraft to avoid insurgent attacks on Iraq's roads.

The downing is part of a surge of attacks that have caused heavy casualties in recent weeks, ending a relative calm since January elections. In the latest violence, two U.S. Marines and at least five other people, including two foreign civilians, were killed in attacks Wednesday and Thursday.

The six Americans on board the downed helicopter were employed by Blackwater Security Consulting — a subsidiary of North Carolina-based security contractor Blackwater USA, which had four employees slain and mutilated by insurgents in Fallujah a year ago.

The Americans were assisting the Bureau of Diplomatic Security in protecting U.S. diplomats in Iraq.

"They played a critical role in our effort to bring a better way of life to the people of a country who have not experienced freedom and opportunity for many years," State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said.

The Islamic Army statement said it killed the survivor "in revenge for the Muslims who have been killed in cold blood in the mosques of tireless Fallujah before the eyes of the world and on television screens, without anyone condemning them." It was apparently referring to the shooting by an American soldier of a wounded Iraqi in a Fallujah mosque on Nov. 13 during a U.S. offensive in the city.

In the video, militants come across the injured man in the flight suit. "Stand up! Stand up!" an insurgent orders the man, who reaches out and says "Give me a hand."

Then, apparently referring to a fractured leg, he says "It's broken."

The militants — unseen except in brief glances — tell him to stand up. "Weapons? Weapons?" the gunmen ask him in Arabic as he stands uneasily.

They tell him, "Go!", and he starts to hobble away with his back to the camera. Then there are voices and he turns to the side, holding up a hand. Then the shooting begins, bullets hitting his body as he falls backward into the grass. The insurgents can be heard shouting "Allahu akbar," or "God is great," as he goes down. More bursts of gunfire then hit the body.

Ereli, who spoke before the video was posted, said he could not confirm the cause of the crash.

However, the Bulgarian Defense Ministry said the helicopter was struck by missile fire.

The aircraft was owned by Heli Air of Bulgaria and chartered by Toronto-based SkyLink Aviation Inc. It was flying to Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit from Baghdad's heavily guarded Green Zone, home to Iraq's parliament and many diplomats.

Ereli said the U.S. government routinely hires contractors to provide security for diplomats, facilities or the activities of people connected with the government.

"There is a need for security that goes beyond what employees of the U.S. government can provide and we go to private companies to offer that," Ereli said. "That's a common practice. It's not unique to Iraq. We do it around the world."

Thursday's helicopter crash was thought to be the first shootdown of a civilian aircraft in Iraq since the invasion in March 2003.

On Nov. 22, 2003, a plane operated by the global delivery service DHL was struck by a shoulder-fired missile near Baghdad and forced to make an emergency landing with its wing aflame. The three crew members were unhurt.

It was not the first time Blackwater workers have died in Iraq.

On March 13, two American security contractors working for Blackwater Security — a subsidiary of Blackwater USA — were killed and a third was wounded in a roadside bombing south of Baghdad on the main road to Hillah.

Last year, four Blackwater employees were killed in Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, and their bodies were burned and mutilated. Two of the corpses were hanged from a bridge over the Euphrates River. The deaths touched off a U.S. Marine assault on insurgents in the city.

This week has seen an increase in insurgent attacks, especially in the capital.

On Thursday, a roadside bomb exploded on the highway leading to Baghdad's airport, severely damaging three SUVs carrying civilians. Police Capt. Hamid Ali said two foreigners were killed and three were wounded. U.S. Embassy and military officials could not confirm the casualties.

In Ramadi, a roadside bomb wounded one soldier in a U.S. convoy. Another American soldier fired his machine gun at a suspected Iraqi ambush site, killing a female Iraqi civilian, U.S. officials said in a statement. Soldiers found an electronic device near the woman that may have been used to trigger the explosion, the statement said.

Hours later, gunfire erupted downtown, and an Associated Press photographer saw the body of a young boy in a street near three smoldering cars.

Sporadic gunfire continued for about two hours, said the photographer, Bilal Hussein. When it subsided, Iraqis pulled the charred body of an adult from one of the burned cars, Hussein said. It was not clear how the two were killed.

[bd476]

I searched and did not find this story posted yet.

[Kinky]

%*&%(*%)(^^!! That's all I have to say about it.

[maestro]

Prayers for all families......In Jesus' Precious Name, Amen........Holy Spirit Comfort.....

[bd476]

Amen, Maestro. Prayers for their surviving families and friends.

[monkeybrau]

Absolutely seething, enraged, furious. These cockroaches shoot an unarmed civilian in the back who is broken and in need of aid, for what?

These people are subhuman mongrels, filthy animals, deranged by their fanaticism and absolutely without redemption. They will understand one thing, brutal and merciless retaliation.

As a side note, this part of the story apparently isn't significant to the alphabet news sites yet.

[bd476]

Unfortunately I very much relate to your seething anger, Monkeybrau.

[livius]

Who cares if a few non-Muslims die?

[rpierce]

From the Blackwater Security site:

Statement of Blackwater USA Regarding Attacks on Contractors FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 21, 2005 For Media Inquiry Only - Contact: Chris Bertelli, Phone: 202-339-8964

Private security contractor Blackwater USA confirms the loss of seven of its contractors to terrorist attacks in Iraq today. All seven were Americans.

“This is a very sad day for the Blackwater family,” said Blackwater USA President Gary Jackson. “We lost seven of our friends to attacks by terrorists in Iraq and our thoughts and prayers go out to their family members.”

The seven Blackwater contractors were killed in two separate incidents today. Six were passengers in a commercial helicopter operated by Sky Link under contract to Blackwater in support of a Department of Defense contract. The helicopter was on its way to Tikrit from Baghdad when it appears to have been shot down. The specifics of the attack are not yet known.

One contractor was killed when an improvised explosive device was detonated next to a Blackwater armored personnel carrier near Ramadi. One contractor was also injured in that attack. Those contractors were also working under a contract with the Department of Defense.

Blackwater personnel are in the process of notifying in person the families of those killed today. In addition, Blackwater has a 15-member team of crisis counselors working with those family members to assist them in coping with the loss of their loved ones.

Blackwater is not releasing the names or other personal information of those killed pending notification of their families.

---

I've met some blackwater guys; hope they were'nt in this group. Best of the best, etc. Prayers of comfort for their families.

[bd476]

Thank you for posting this update, RPierce. I hope that your friends and acquaintances with Blackwater were not there.

[bd476]

Ping and prayers for civilians shot down today.

[Squantos]

BW bttt.......

[Travis McGee]

No word on who yet.

[Squantos]

Nope........I get a e-mail from Black Water every few days and two of my friends work for em. I suspect they'll know so I should hear soon as to who .
........

[Travis McGee]

Flying helos is risky anytime, anywhere. In Iraq...yikes.

[PureSolace]

I don't know if the mods will pull this, but here are the two videos...WARNING GRAPHIC

Downed Helicopter 1

Downed Helicopter 2

[Alamo-Girl]

I join in your prayers for all the loved ones!

[Americanexpat]

I just watched the first video. Cold blooded murder. I don´t want anyone to talk to me about Abu Gharab or panties or mosques anymore. These a**holes would have killed the man even if these incidents hadn't taken place.

[PureSolace]

I just watched the first video. Cold blooded murder. I don´t want anyone to talk to me about Abu Gharab or panties or mosques anymore. These a**holes would have killed the man even if these incidents hadn't taken place.

The part where they kill the man after miraculously surviving the helicopter crash leaves me with a heavy feeling in my gut. I dunno if it's hate or justice or what. but something needs to be done about these people.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Let's panty them all in mosques. Yeah that would be sufficient vengeance (/not)