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Insurgents claim executing helicopter survivor Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2005-04-21-iraq_x.htmhttp://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2005-04-21-iraq_x.htm
Copter shot down in Iraq; insurgents claim to have killed survivor
By Rick Jervis and Jim Michaels, USA TODAY
BAGHDAD — A civilian helicopter was shot down north of the Iraqi capital Thursday. There were no survivors among the 11 people aboard, including six American security contractors.
The Americans worked for North Carolina-based Blackwater USA, U.S. Embassy spokesman Bob Callahan said. The crew consisted of three Bulgarians, Bulgaria's Defense Ministry said in a statement.
A group called the Islamic Army in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on its Web site. The group posted a video that it claimed was taken at the crash. In it, a man in blue overalls in a grassy area reaches out for help. He is ordered to walk away and is shot. The authenticity of the video could not be confirmed.
Paul Greenaway, operations manager for SkyLink, the company that operated the helicopter, said the Russian-built Mi-8 was headed to Tikrit and also carried two security guards from Fiji.
Callahan said the crash is under investigation, "but we presume it was brought down by hostile fire." The Bulgarian Defense Ministry statement said a missile brought down the helicopter.
Blackwater provides security in Iraq for the State Department, the company's Web site says.
"This is a very sad day for the Blackwater family," company President Gary Jackson said.
Another Blackwater employee was killed Thursday when a roadside bomb was detonated next to an armored personnel carrier near Ramadi, the company said. Four employees were injured.
Last year, four Blackwater employees were killed by a mob in Fallujah. The remains of two of the men were hung from a bridge over the Euphrates River.
If the cause of the crash is confirmed, it would mark the first time insurgents had shot down an aircraft since April 11, 2004, when an Apache attack helicopter was downed by gunfire in Baghdad.
Militant attacks have increased in recent days. Among the incidents:
•A powerful car bomb targeting Iraq's interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, exploded Wednesday night. He escaped unharmed.
•A roadside bomb that exploded on the highway to Baghdad's airport Thursday killed two foreigners and injured three in three sport-utility vehicles, police Capt. Hamid Ali said.
•A pair of car bombs aimed at an Interior Ministry office last week killed about 18 people.
Also, more details emerged about the more than 50 bodies that turned up in the Tigris River. Wednesday, President Jalal Talabani announced the discovery of the corpses south of Baghdad and cited it as proof that dozens of hostages had been taken around Madain, a town 15 miles south of Baghdad.
Sgt. 1st Class David Abrams, a U.S. military spokesman, said he had no information on bodies recovered from the river.
Hikmat Moosa, an Interior Ministry official, said 58 bodies had turned up in a dam in the Tigris River since February. Moosa said most of the corpses had been shot and some were beheaded.
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