Six held for downing chopper
2005-04-23 22:00
Baghdad - Six Iraqis allegedly involved in the shooting down of a Bulgarian civilian helicopter were captured by US soldiers on Saturday, the US military said in a statement.
Soldiers searched two houses in an undisclosed location following a tip-off.
"At the first house they captured three men and confiscated bomb-making material. At the second house, the unit detained three more suspects involved in making improvised explosive devices," the statement said.
"All six men were taken into custody for questioning," it added.
All 11 men aboard the Bulgarian Mi-8 helicopter - six US security guards, three Bulgarian crew and two Fijians - were killed when it was shot down on Thursday north of Baghdad.
The Islamic Army in Iraq said it had shot down the helicopter, posting video footage on the Internet of what it said was the blazing wreckage of the aircraft and the corpses of the victims.
The downing was the deadliest since a US military helicopter crashed on January 26 killing 31 US troops.
- AFP