April 25, 2005

10 Arrested in Helicopter Downing

The arrest of four more suspects yesterday brings the number of suspects arrested over the downing of a Bulgarian helicopter and the subsequent murder of its pilot to 10. The most important aspect of this story is that all of the arrests were made because Iraqi civilians turned the suspects in. Terrorists need an environmnet of sympathy from which to operate. It seems that it is becoming harder and harder for the terrorists to operate with impunity in Iraq.

Thanks to the, literally, scores of people who e-mailed me about the story yesterday. Really, too many people to give the hat tip to right now. You can see images and a link to the video of the helicopter downing here.

Here is the original report of 6 men being caught followed by news that four more were nabbed. Boston Globe:

The suspects in the helicopter downing were caught after US soldiers from Task Force Baghdad were tipped off by an Iraqi civilian who told the Americans that he knew where insurgents had stashed a blue Kia pickup truck that was used in the attack and led them to the site, the military said in a statement.

Soldiers searched two nearby houses shortly after midnight yesterday, arresting three men and seizing bomb-making material in the first home. Three suspects were grabbed from the second residence, and all were being questioned, the military said.

The U.S. military said Sunday it has arrested four more suspects in Thursday's downing of a civilian helicopter north of Baghdad, bringing the number apprehended so far to 10. All 11 helicopter passengers and crew were killed, including one shot by insurgents....

The American military said Sunday it detained the additional suspects in the downing of the helicopter during the past 24 hours. Iraqi civilians helped U.S. forces locate the first six suspects captured Saturday, the military said.

The Russian-made Mi-8 helicopter was shot down about 12 miles north of Baghdad. The dead included six American bodyguards for U.S. diplomats, three Bulgarian crew members and two security guards from Fiji, officials said.

Two militant groups claimed responsibility for the attack and released video to back their claims. In one video, insurgents are seen capturing and shooting to death the lone survivor, identified as a Bulgarian pilot.

The aircraft was owned by Heli Air of Bulgaria and chartered by Toronto-based SkyLink Aviation Inc.

The six Americans were employed by Blackwater Security Consulting a subsidiary of security contractor Blackwater USA of Moyock, N.C., which had four employees slain and mutilated by insurgents in Fallujah a year ago.