An Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed Friday near the north-central city of Tikrit, the U.S. military said. It was not known whether the Black Hawk helicopter went down due to mechanical failure or hostile fire. An officer who asked not to be identified said it was probably hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.
A U.S. officer on the scene said that all six on board were dead.
In retaliation, American troops backed by Bradley fighting vehicles swept through Tikrit neighborhoods before dawn Saturday, striking houses suspected of being hideouts with machine guns and heavy weapons fire.
"This is to remind the town that we have teeth and claws and we will use them," said Lt. Col. Steven Russell, commander of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment.
Russell also said the 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew, which had been lifted at the Oct. 27 start in Iraq of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, was reinstated Friday night.
The aircraft went down about 9:40 a.m. on a riverbank along the Tigris River about a half mile from the U.S. base in Saddam Hussein's former palace. White smoke was seen rising from the wreckage and three other choppers were hovering overhead.
Also Friday, a U.S. convoy was ambushed with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire, killing one soldier and wounding at least five soldiers in the northern city of Mosul.
After the clash, troops blocked off the section of town where the fighting had occurred. Witnesses said that two vehicles were left burning and that others were damaged.
A downtown hotel used as a military barracks in Mosul was attacked late Thursday with rocket-propelled grenades, but no damage or casualties occurred, the military said, according to The AP.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon disclosed plans to send 85,000 relief troops to Iraq early next year, part of a rotation plan that assumes Iraqis be able to assume more control and American troops in Iraq can be reduced from 131,600 today to 105,000 by May, senior officials said.
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
