European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 6, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 stars and stripes Friday april 62007 us Black Hawk crash in Iraq injures four by Joseph Giordono stars and stripes four service members were injured when their Black Hawk helicopter went Down South of Baghdad Early thursday while another five who were on Board were unhurt according to military officials the uh60 Black Hawk crashed near Lati Niyah about 20 Miles South of Baghdad shortly after the am incident All of the service members had been recovered and the injured had been medically evacuated the associated press citing an unnamed iraqi official reported that the Heli copter had been shot Down by an antiaircraft heavy machine gun the aircraft came Down in a Rural area and was quickly cordoned off by american troops the iraqi official was quoted As saying us army maj Alayne Conway a spokesman for the newly created multinational division enter said thursday after noon via email that an investigation was under Way into what caused the helicopter to crash More details were expected to be released in the coming Days at least eight us helicopters have crashed or been shot Down in Iraq since the beginning of the year us military officials have said they changed flight routes and adjusted defensive tactics in the Wake of the shoot Downs the use of helicopters to ferry troops and supplies throughout Iraq has in creased enormously Over the past two years owing mostly to the dangers of Road Side bombs in 2005 us army aircraft flew 240000 hours in 2006 they flew 334000 hours while this year they Are expected to Fly 400000 since 2004 us helicopters have been fired on about 100 times a month a senior us military officer said in a february briefing in Baghdad most of those engage ments involved Small arms and heavy machine guns though officials have also said several forms of shoulder fired missiles have been used the helicopters actually Are struck by fire roughly 17 times a month maj Gen Jim Simmons Deputy commander for sup port of multinational corp Iraq said in the briefing email Joseph Giordono at four British soldiers killed during an ambush in Basra six american troops reported killed in recent Days by Bassem Mroue the associated press British sol Diers were killed thursday in an ambush in Southern Iraq while six us troops died in separate at tacks in the Baghdad area officials said British prime minister Tony Blair raised the possibility that elements linked to Iran might have been behind the ambush which he called a terrorist act but he added that it was too Early to make a specific allegation against Tehran the us military said the six us soldiers were killed in Sepa rate attacks in the Baghdad area where thousands of american forces have taken to the streets with their iraqi counterparts As part of the operation to quell Sec tarian violence in the City of 6 Mil lion people two multinational division Baghdad soldiers died and three others were wounded wednesday after a Roadside bomb struck their combat Security patrol in Southern Baghdad the military said iraqis hold a British soldiers helmet and pieces of a British military fighting vehicle As they cheer after a Roadside bomb on a British patrol thursday in Basra two other multinational Divi Sion Baghdad soldiers also died and another was wounded wednesday in a Roadside bomb North of the capital the military said on tuesday a multinational division Baghdad Soldier was killed by Small arms fire while on patrol in Eastern Baghdad a pre dominantly shiite part of the City the military said separately no other soldiers were wounded in that attack according to the state ment another multinational division Baghdad Soldier on a foot patrol was killed by Small arms fire on the Southern outskirts of Bagh dad on tuesday the military said another Soldier was wounded in that attack the military stressed that Mem Bers of the units attacked had found numerous weapons and detained suspected militants in re cent weeks As part of a 7weekold Security crackdown the four British deaths the biggest loss of life for British forces in More than four months came a Day after Iran released 15 British sailors seized two weeks ago off the iraqi coast the British patrol struck a Road Side bomb and was hit by Small arms fire about 2 am in the Hay Aniyah District in Western Carrier needed for Grafe Woehr Hillesheim and Vilseck for More information please Contact Tom at 01726707342 us deaths in Iraq the associated press As of wednesday at least 3260 members of the us Mili tary have died since the begin Ning of the Iraq War in March 2003 according to an associated press count the figure includes seven military civilians at least 2630 died As a result of hostile action according to the military numbers the a count is four higher than the defense departments tally last updated wednesday at Damudt the British military has re ported 136 deaths Italy 33 Ukraine 18 Poland 19 Bulgaria 13 Spain 11 Denmark six Al Salvador five Slovakia four Latvia three Estonia Netherlands Thailand two each and Australia Hungary Kazakhstan Romania one death each the latest deaths reported by the military m no deaths reported the latest identifications re ported by the military army pc Curtis r Spivey 25 Chula Vista Calif died monday in san Diego of wounds suffered when an explosive detonated near his vehicle in Baghdad on sept 16 2006 assigned to the 1st squad Ron 10th cavalry regiment 2nd brigade combat team 4th infantry division fort Hood Texas army pfc Gabriel j Figueroa 20 Baldwin Park Calif killed tuesday by Small arms fire in Baghdad As signed to the 1st battalion 8th cavalry regiment 2nd Bri Gade combat team 1st cavalry division fort Hood Texas array staff sgt Shane r Becker 35 Helena Mont killed tuesday by Small arms fire in Baghdad assigned to the 1st Squadron 40th cavalry regiment 4th brigade combat team 25th infantry division fort Richardson Alaska Basra 340 Miles Southeast of Baghdad British military spokes woman capt Katie Brown said police in Basra said the British patrol had earlier detained 1st it Haidar Aljazaerli of the Interior ministry major crimes unit and were on their Way Back when they were attacked Overall the deaths raised to 140 the number of British forces to die in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion and to 109 the num Ber killed in combat also thursday a car bomb also struck a sunni Muslim television station killing its assistant director and wounding 12 others according to the iraqi islamic party which owns the station nobody claimed responsibility for the attack  Pes your Hometown newspaper Why pay full Price Home delivery Only St too per week toil free 08001011270 Germany 0800780265 Italy 08000858827 us 080078073 Belgium 08000225203 Netherlands 0900958303 Spain Dan 3498437 email hours of operation of 07001800 Samsun 07301300 european stars and stripes attn circulation dept unit 29480 Apoate 09211