Chopper Shot Down, 2 GIs Dead

[David]

AP


Two U.S. soldiers were killed when their helicopter was shot down and crashed in central Iraq, the military said Friday, as the government announced a massive crackdown against insurgents in Baghdad.

U.S. officials were investigating Thursday's crash involving a two-seater OH-58 Kiowa helicopter that crashed near Buhriz, a former Saddam stronghold about 35 miles north of Baghdad.

The armed U.S. reconnaissance helicopter was flying in support of combat operations in Buhriz. The slain soldiers were with Task Force Liberty, under the command of the Tikrit-based 42nd Infantry Division.

The military said small-arms fire downed the helicopter, while another returned to base safely despite being hit.

In other developments:


Iraq's most lethal insurgent group appears to be facing a leadership crisis amid conflicting reports about the fate of its leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and whether a Saudi militant has been named to stand in for him. Iraq's interior and defense ministers said Thursday they have information that al-Zarqawi has been wounded ? apparent confirmation of recent rumors that the Jordanian-born terrorist leader of al Qaeda in Iraq was injured. But the officials said they did not know how severe the injury might be.


The Iraqi interior and defense ministers said Thursday the Jordanian-born leader of al Qaeda in Iraq had been wounded, confirming several Internet statements making the same claim this week. An Internet statement also claimed the group had appointed a deputy to fill in for al-Zarqawi. But a rival statement rejected the claim.


An Army soldier has been cleared of killing an unarmed Iraqi he said he shot to save a fellow soldier. Staff Sgt. Shane Werst, 32, was acquitted Thursday by a jury of four soldiers and two officers. He had faced a maximum of life in prison without parole for the premeditated murder charge. Defense attorney David Sheldon said the jurors, who deliberated less than three hours, apparently considered evidence that Werst had to make a split-second decision during a nighttime raid in a dangerous environment.


In one of the insurgency's most bizarre attacks to date, someone tied a crude homemade bomb to a dog, which exploded near an Iraqi army patrol south of Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, police said. None of the soldiers was harmed in the blast.


Iraqi authorities are preparing to launch the largest show of force in the capital since Saddam's ouster in a bid to curb the rampant insurgency, which has killed more than 650 people since the country's new government was announced April 28.

More than 40,000 Iraqi police and soldiers, backed by American troops and air support, will set up hundreds of checkpoints, raid houses and search vehicles as part of Operation Lightning, Iraqi's interior and defense ministers announced Thursday.

In a reminder of the deadly insurgency, violence claimed at least 15 lives Thursday across Iraq, including a Baghdad car bomb that exploded near a police patrol, killing five people.

Iraqi authorities did not say how long Operation Lightning would last, and it was uncertain if the Iraq security services are capable of mounting a sustained operation.

Iraq has 89,400 security personnel, including commando units, in the Interior Ministry, according to the U.S. military. The figure may include some deserters. Another 75,800 forces are in the Iraqi military, mostly the army.

"We will establish, with God's help, an impenetrable blockade surrounding Baghdad like a bracelet surrounds a wrist," Defense Minister Saadoun al-Duleimi said.

Baghdad will be divided into two sectors, Karkh on the west bank of the Tigris river that separates the city, and Risafa on the east. Karkh will be split into 15 sub-districts and Risafa into seven. Security forces will operate 24 hours a day.

American authorities, meanwhile, are investigating the killing of three Iraqis who died when U.S. soldiers shot at their van in southeastern Baghdad on Thursday, military spokesman Master Sgt. Greg Kaufman said.

Soldiers shot at the vehicle after its driver failed to respond to warnings to stop, Kaufman said. Soldiers had seen several Iraqis flee in the vehicle after acting suspiciously near a car tire on the road, raising suspicions they may have been planting a roadside bomb. No explosive devices were found.

Iraqi police Sgt. Najim Aboud said two of the slain Iraqis were brothers and that their mother was also in the van.