Military

DATE= 11/7/2003

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=IRAQ / ATTACKS (L)

NUMBER=2-309552

BYLINE=GREG LAMOTTE

DATELINE=BAGHDAD

CONTENT=

INTRO: At least six U-S soldiers were killed in a helicopter crash Friday in northern Iraq and U-S troops in the northern Iraqi town of Mosul were ambushed Friday morning. V-O-A's Greg LaMotte is in Baghdad with the details.

TEXT: A U-S Black Hawk helicopter crashed Friday near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. The cause of the crash is under investigation. Tikrit is about 160 kilometers north of Baghdad.

A large plume of smoke could be seen rising from the helicopter that crashed near a riverbank.

The Black Hawk is the U-S Army's frontline helicopter designed to carry 11 combat troops. It is also used as a general transportation aircraft and for medical evacuations.

On October 25th, anti-coalition forces attacked a Black Hawk helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade. That incident also occurred in Tikrit. The helicopter was forced to land and all five crewmembers escaped as the aircraft became engulfed in flames.

Last Sunday, a U-S Army Chinook helicopter was downed by what was believed to be a shoulder-fired missile near the town of Fallujah west of Baghdad. Sixteen U-S soldiers were killed in what was the single worst incident against U-S forces in Iraq.

The U-S military has said there may be hundreds of shoulder-fired surface to air missiles in Iraq that continue to present a considerable threat to U-S aircraft in the country.

Also in northern Iraq Friday, one U-S soldier was killed and at least six others were wounded when their convoy came under attack in Mosul.

The U-S military says the convoy, with the 101st Airborne Division, was attacked by a group of assailants firing rocket-propelled grenades.

In a separate incident in Mosul Friday, three U-S soldiers were reported wounded by a roadside bomb. (Signed)

NEB/GL/MAR/FC