2 Are Killed in Sixth NATO Copter Crash Since Late April in Afghanistan

 

KABUL, Afghanistan — Two NATO service members died Sunday when their helicopter crashed in eastern Afghanistan. It was the latest in a string of crashes in recent weeks that were being investigated.

A NATO spokesman said the helicopter in the crash on Sunday went down in the Sabari District of Khost Province, a mountainous area near the Pakistan border where insurgents have been active this spring. The spokesman said two crew members were airlifted from the crash site, but he provided no other details, including the nationality of the two who were killed.

The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for shooting down the aircraft, but NATO officials in Kabul said there had been no reports of hostile activity in the area.

“But what we don’t want to do is state categorically the reason for the crash, which is under investigation,” said Maj. Tim James, a British Army spokesman for the NATO-led military coalition.

At least six coalition helicopters have gone down since April 24, and five people have been killed. NATO has not announced the cause of any of the crashes, or whether the helicopters were downed as a result of hostile action. Officials said it typically takes two months to investigate a crash, and they have declined to release any details before the investigations are complete.

In at least four of the crashes, NATO said there was no indication of enemy activity.

The crashes do not appear to show a pattern, either involving problems with the aircraft or a shift in enemy tactics, Major James said.

Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said insurgents were planting roadside bombs on Sunday in the village of Noori when an American helicopter flew close overhead.

“This helicopter was flying at low altitude and wanted to target the mujahedeen,” Mr. Mujahid said by telephone from an undisclosed location. “But before it could shoot at the mujahedeen, it was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade.”

On May 30, an Australian Chinook helicopter crashed in the town of Tarin Kowt in the southern province of Uruzgan, killing one service member and injuring five others. The Australian military said the crash was under investigation but ruled out enemy ground fire as a cause.

An American soldier died May 26 when a helicopter crashed in Paktika Province in eastern Afghanistan, and another died in a crash on April 24 in Kapisa Province, also in eastern Afghanistan.

Coalition helicopters were also forced to make what NATO described as hard landings on May 15 in the Panjwayi District in Kandahar Province and again on May 29 in southern Afghanistan. No casualties were reported in either landing.

Hard landing is a term that NATO uses for crashes in which the pilot does not lose control of the craft during the descent. The difference in classification, officials say, can be a gray area.

Sanghar Rahimi contributed reporting from Kabul, and an Afghan employee of The New York Times from Khost.

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Officers and Inmates Are Killed in Iraq Jail Revolt

Several inmates seized a cache of grenades and other weapons and killed six security officers, including a high-ranking counterterrorism official. The inmates overran part of the prison until they were beaten back by an Iraqi police assault team around 4:30 a.m. Eleven inmates were killed, the officials said.

It was the latest in a string of riots and jailbreaks that have embarrassed government officials and exposed gaping security flaws in Iraq’s detention system.

“These terrorists took the benefit of carelessness,” said Hakim al-Zamili, who sits on the Iraqi Parliament’s security committee and is a vocal critic of the government. “The Iraqis are using the wrong strategy with prisoners and terrorists.”

Iraqi officials said that the assault appeared to have been planned in advance, but they provided few details.

The office of the prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, released a statement saying that he had formed a committee to investigate the episode.

He ordered security forces to be “more alert” to prevent future breaches.

The violence came amid warnings of heightened attacks in revenge for last week’s killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Iraqi intelligence officials said that the inmates were members of the Sunni extremist group Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, and that the authorities had been interrogating them about possible reprisals for Bin Laden’s death.

On Thursday, a suicide bomber attacked a police training center in the southern Shiite city of Hilla, killing 25 people. The authorities blamed Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia for the assault.

The melee inside the Baghdad prison began around 10 p.m. on Saturday when the man believed to have masterminded the church attack, Huthaifa al-Batawi, seized a police lieutenant’s pistol, shot him in the head and led other inmates on a rampage, the officials said.

It was unclear exactly where Mr. Batawi was when he grabbed the gun, but the authorities said that he and the other inmates had not been handcuffed, making it easier for them to overpower their captors, break out of a holding area and overrun the jail.

They killed five other officers, including Brig. Gen. Moayed al-Saleh, who oversaw counterterrorism operations in Karada, an upper-middle-class neighborhood of Baghdad.

As reinforcements arrived, five inmates were killed trying to escape in a stolen police vehicle, and five others were killed later by the Iraqi police.

The assault was especially galling because it occurred in the shadow of the heavily guarded headquarters of Iraq’s Interior Ministry and happened in a prison that holds dozens of high-value detainees.

Iraqi politicians were quick to criticize security measures in the facility, where the grenades seized by the inmates had been sitting on a table.

Critics said that officers there appeared to underestimate the threat posed by the inmates.

“They are very dangerous, these prisoners,” said Adnan al-Asadi, a former deputy interior minister and a member of Parliament.

Security officials said that of the roughly 220 inmates, 38 were said to have been involved in the Oct. 31 assault on Our Lady of Salvation Church.

That attack, the worst against Iraqi Christians since the American invasion, left more than 50 people dead.

The violence and uncertainty it wrought helped drive more of the country’s dwindling population of Christians to seek safety in the north, or leave Iraq entirely.

?Mr. Maliki and other top officials promised to hunt down terrorists after the church siege, and in late November, the Interior Ministry announced Mr. Batawi’s arrest with pride, saying that he had been captured after “long hard efforts.”

Duraid Adnan and Khalid D. Ali contributed reporting.

 

Officers and Inmates Are Killed in Iraq Jail Revolt

Several inmates seized a cache of grenades and other weapons and killed six security officers, including a high-ranking counterterrorism official. The inmates overran part of the prison until they were beaten back by an Iraqi police assault team around 4:30 a.m. Eleven inmates were killed, the officials said.

It was the latest in a string of riots and jailbreaks that have embarrassed government officials and exposed gaping security flaws in Iraq’s detention system.

“These terrorists took the benefit of carelessness,” said Hakim al-Zamili, who sits on the Iraqi Parliament’s security committee and is a vocal critic of the government. “The Iraqis are using the wrong strategy with prisoners and terrorists.”

Iraqi officials said that the assault appeared to have been planned in advance, but they provided few details.

The office of the prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, released a statement saying that he had formed a committee to investigate the episode.

He ordered security forces to be “more alert” to prevent future breaches.

The violence came amid warnings of heightened attacks in revenge for last week’s killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Iraqi intelligence officials said that the inmates were members of the Sunni extremist group Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, and that the authorities had been interrogating them about possible reprisals for Bin Laden’s death.

On Thursday, a suicide bomber attacked a police training center in the southern Shiite city of Hilla, killing 25 people. The authorities blamed Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia for the assault.

The melee inside the Baghdad prison began around 10 p.m. on Saturday when the man believed to have masterminded the church attack, Huthaifa al-Batawi, seized a police lieutenant’s pistol, shot him in the head and led other inmates on a rampage, the officials said.

It was unclear exactly where Mr. Batawi was when he grabbed the gun, but the authorities said that he and the other inmates had not been handcuffed, making it easier for them to overpower their captors, break out of a holding area and overrun the jail.

They killed five other officers, including Brig. Gen. Moayed al-Saleh, who oversaw counterterrorism operations in Karada, an upper-middle-class neighborhood of Baghdad.

As reinforcements arrived, five inmates were killed trying to escape in a stolen police vehicle, and five others were killed later by the Iraqi police.

The assault was especially galling because it occurred in the shadow of the heavily guarded headquarters of Iraq’s Interior Ministry and happened in a prison that holds dozens of high-value detainees.

Iraqi politicians were quick to criticize security measures in the facility, where the grenades seized by the inmates had been sitting on a table.

Critics said that officers there appeared to underestimate the threat posed by the inmates.

“They are very dangerous, these prisoners,” said Adnan al-Asadi, a former deputy interior minister and a member of Parliament.

Security officials said that of the roughly 220 inmates, 38 were said to have been involved in the Oct. 31 assault on Our Lady of Salvation Church.

That attack, the worst against Iraqi Christians since the American invasion, left more than 50 people dead.

The violence and uncertainty it wrought helped drive more of the country’s dwindling population of Christians to seek safety in the north, or leave Iraq entirely.

?Mr. Maliki and other top officials promised to hunt down terrorists after the church siege, and in late November, the Interior Ministry announced Mr. Batawi’s arrest with pride, saying that he had been captured after “long hard efforts.”

Duraid Adnan and Khalid D. Ali contributed reporting.