17 soldiers die in copter collision

BAGHDAD — Two U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopters collided and crashed Saturday after coming under enemy fire in northern Iraq, witnesses and military officials said, killing at least 17 soldiers and wounding five others.

The collision of the Black Hawks occurred over a residential neighborhood in Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city, after the aircraft came under fire, witnesses told military officials and a local political leader.

One U.S. soldier was listed as missing shortly after midnight, said a military spokesman. Information on civilian casualties was not available.

There were conflicting reports about what caused the crash, which occurred shortly after sundown.

Reuters quoted a military officer on the scene, who said one of the helicopters was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. But a senior military official in Baghdad said initial reports suggest one helicopter was taking evasive action to avoid ground fire when it collided with the other.

The crash of the two aircraft comes amid a surge of attacks against coalition forces by increasingly audacious guerrillas.

Three other U.S. helicopters have been hit and disabled by ground fire in the past three weeks, in all taking the lives of 22 soldiers. A team of suicide bombers detonated an explosives-laden truck at a police station in Nasiriyah last week, killing 19 Italians assisting with the occupation. On one day alone last week, there were 46 separate attacks on U.S. forces.

The violence against U.S. forces has been concentrated in central Iraq's Sunni Triangle. But there also have been a series attacks against the coalition in Mosul, which is home to a large number of former Iraqi military officers.

The Black Hawk, the U.S. Army's front-line utility helicopter, typically operates with a crew of four and can carry 11 combat-ready troops. Both of the helicopters that crashed Saturday were with the 101st Airborne Division, which is based in Mosul and controls northern Iraq.

One helicopter was carrying a quick-reaction force, and the other was transporting troops, a military spokesman said. Helicopters in Iraq often fly in pairs for security. The aircraft hit the ground about 250 yards from each other, according to a statement from U.S. Central Command.