RCAF C-130 Claimed Shot Down! Video Available!
Posted 1-31-2005 at 09:34 PM
Breaking news! Insurgents claimed on Monday to have shot down a British military plane north of Baghdad over the weekend, and Al-Jazeera television aired a videotape from guerrillas showing flaming wreckage of a plane. Britain said all 10 personnel on the flight were missing and presumed dead, but said the cause of the crash had not yet been determined. The insurgents were possibly using modified anti-tank weapons.
If confirmed, the death toll would make it the deadliest single incident suffered by the British military in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003. The C-130 Hercules crashed about 25 miles north of Baghdad on Sunday, about a half hour after polls closed in Iraq’s landmark election.
A U.S. military officer said earlier that wreckage was widely scattered over the site, and military expert Air Vice-Marshall Tony Mason said that may mean the Hercules was shot down.
The wide wreckage area “suggests impact in the air rather than the ground,” Mason told the BBC. “My concern is that at the moment it could very well be hostile action.”
Video and Full Story Available @
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6886612
No Confirmation from Britain
Earlier, Ansar al-Islam, an al-Qaida-linked group, posted a statement on a website claiming it downed the Hercule aircraft.
The authenticity of the Ansar al-Islam website could not be verified.
British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said in a statement: "We are aware of reports that the aircraft may have been shot down, but we are not in a position to come to any conclusions until the investigation is complete."
Hoon also said that nine Royal Air Force personnel and one soldier were missing, believed dead following the crash of the RAF C-130 Hercules.
The defence ministry said earlier a thorough investigation into the cause of the crash had begun and that experts were due to examine the site again Monday.
Full Story @
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6B5F51E9-EE8B-4006-B2F2-708F831001AB.htm
Breaking news! Insurgents claimed on Monday to have shot down a British military plane north of Baghdad over the weekend, and Al-Jazeera television aired a videotape from guerrillas showing flaming wreckage of a plane. Britain said all 10 personnel on the flight were missing and presumed dead, but said the cause of the crash had not yet been determined. The insurgents were possibly using modified anti-tank weapons.
If confirmed, the death toll would make it the deadliest single incident suffered by the British military in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003. The C-130 Hercules crashed about 25 miles north of Baghdad on Sunday, about a half hour after polls closed in Iraq’s landmark election.
A U.S. military officer said earlier that wreckage was widely scattered over the site, and military expert Air Vice-Marshall Tony Mason said that may mean the Hercules was shot down.
The wide wreckage area “suggests impact in the air rather than the ground,” Mason told the BBC. “My concern is that at the moment it could very well be hostile action.”
Video and Full Story Available @
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6886612
No Confirmation from Britain
Earlier, Ansar al-Islam, an al-Qaida-linked group, posted a statement on a website claiming it downed the Hercule aircraft.
The authenticity of the Ansar al-Islam website could not be verified.
British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said in a statement: "We are aware of reports that the aircraft may have been shot down, but we are not in a position to come to any conclusions until the investigation is complete."
Hoon also said that nine Royal Air Force personnel and one soldier were missing, believed dead following the crash of the RAF C-130 Hercules.
The defence ministry said earlier a thorough investigation into the cause of the crash had begun and that experts were due to examine the site again Monday.
Full Story @
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6B5F51E9-EE8B-4006-B2F2-708F831001AB.htm
