Hercules 'attack' video shown
2005-01-31 18:27
London - The Arab television network Al Jazerra has aired video footage purporting to show the attack on a British plane that killed 10 servicemen in Iraq, Sky News reports.
Nine RAF personnel and one soldier are believed to have been killed when their Hercules aircraft crashed near Baghdad.
An Iraqi militant group claims to have hit the plane with a missile.
The Ansar al-Islam group said in a statement posted on an Islamic website that its fighters tracked the aircraft, "which was flying at a low altitude, and fired an anti-tank missile at it".
Defence secretary Geoff Hoon said in a statement that UK and US forces had secured the crash site, and were now recovering the bodies and attempting to ascertain the cause of the crash.
"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," he said.
- News24