A mysterious helicopter crash in northern Iraq has killed a number of folks, allegedly together with militants belonging to an outlawed Kurdish insurgency group, in keeping with a press release from the Iraqi Kurdish-run counterterrorism company on Thursday.
The AS350 Eurocopter crashed within the district of Chamanke in Dohuk province in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish area on Wednesday evening, the company mentioned in a press release posted on social media. All the passengers had been killed, it mentioned.
An investigator on the crash scene mentioned at the very least seven had been on board. The individual spoke on situation of anonymity due to not being approved to debate the investigation with the media.
The helicopter was carrying militants belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Employee’s Get together, or PKK, the assertion mentioned. No get together has of but claimed possession of the army helicopter.
Iraq’s authorities, the usled coalition and Turkey had been contacted by the Iraqi Kurdish regional authorities concerning the crash, however every denied the helicopter was theirs, the assertion added.
THIS DEMOCRAT, REPUBLICAN AGREE IT’S TIME TO GET IRAQ WAR LAWS OFF THE BOOKS
There was a number of killed Wednesday evening in a mysterious northern Iraq helicopter crash.
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Zagros Hiwa, a PKK spokesperson, mentioned the group doesn’t possess helicopters and so they had been additionally investigating the incident. He additionally forged doubt on the presence of PKK militants onboard the flight, saying they might have a coalition helicopter carrying fighters with the Individuals’s Safety Models, or YPG, a Syrian Kurdish group allied with the U.S.-led forces.
A spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition declined to remark, saying the crash fell exterior the scope of the coalition’s operations.
Turkish protection ministry officers mentioned that preliminary experiences that the helicopter had been Turkish had been “fully unfaithful” and that there was no helicopter flight belonging to the Turkish army within the area.
The PKK has been waging an insurgency towards Turkey for the reason that Nineteen Eighties and is taken into account a terrorist group by Ankara, the USA and the European Union. Its militants have established protected havens in northern Iraq and ceaselessly come beneath assault by Turkey within the area.