One dude with a shoulder held missile launcher did so much damage.
10 killed in Iraq plane crash
The defence secretary, Geoff Hoon, today announced that 10 British service personnel were killed when an RAF transport plane crashed in Iraq on Sunday.
In the biggest single loss of life since March 21 2003, when eight British troops died in a US helicopter, nine RAF personnel and one soldier died. One of the crew, Flight Lieutenant Paul Pardoel, a 35-year-old father of three from Australia, was named among the victims.
The C-130 Hercules was flying from Baghdad to Balad, where there is a US military base, when it crashed around 25 miles north-west of the capital. The cause of the crash remains unknown, but a militant group has claimed responsibility.
Mr Hoon said the servicemen's deaths were "especially poignant on a day when Iraqis were able to enjoy the freedom of democratic elections for the first time in many years". He said British and US forces had secured the crash site, and were recovering the bodies and attempting to ascertain the cause of the crash.
A senior US military officer said the wreckage of the plane was scattered over a large area, suggesting a mid-air explosion, but the MoD refused to comment on the speculation until its investigations were complete.
Earlier, the Iraqi militant group Ansar al-Islam posted a statement on an Islamist website, claiming its fighters had tracked the aircraft ,"which was flying at a low altitude", and fired an anti-tank missile at it.
"Thanks be to God, the plane was downed and a huge fire and black clouds of smoke were seen rising from the location of the crash," the statement said.
Ansar al-Islam is thought to have been the creation of Osama bin Laden's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in the months after September 11. Recently, it has been overshadowed by the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and the group he has called al-Qaida in Iraq.
Tony Blair's official spokesman said he had no "firm information" on the circumstances surrounding the crash. "All I would say is I think people should be cautious before rushing to judgment," the spokesman added.
Flt Lt Pardoel, from Victoria state, was the first Australian to be killed on military duty in Iraq. The Australian defence department said he had enlisted in the RAF after serving with the Royal Australian Air Force.
The foreign secretary, Jack Straw, paid tribute to the troops killed in the Hercules crash. "Our hearts go out to the families and comrades of those who were killed and injured," Mr Straw said. "These are very brave men, as are all the service personnel who have been killed or injured in the last two years."
C-130 Hercules aircraft, renowned for their reliability, are used to ferry troops and equipment between Britain and Basra in southern Iraq, and between Basra and Baghdad. They do not often fly north of the Iraqi capital. |
