Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, right, is welcomed by President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, in Sulaimaniyah, 160 miles northeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday Jan. 2, 2006. Al-Jaafari is a leading member of the United Iraqi Alliance, a religious coalition of majority Shiites that won the most votes in the Dec. 15 parliamentary elections, according to preliminary results.
(AP Photo/Yahya Ahmed)
U.S. military calls copter report false
BAQOUBA, Iraq --The U.S. military said Tuesday that none of its helicopters had crashed after searching for a downed aircraft following a report by an Iraqi army soldier that one went down northeast of Baghdad.
The report of a downed helicopter was forwarded to U.S. officials after an Iraqi soldier said he saw ground fire take down an American aircraft, according to the joint coordination center of the Diyala provincial police.
But Maj. Steve Warren, a spokesman for the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, said an Iraqi soldier saw a helicopter flying close to the ground and mistakenly thought it had crashed.
"There was no helicopter crash," Warren said.
The military dispatched helicopters and ground crews to search the area but found nothing, Warren said.
The 101st Combat Aviation Brigade could account for all of its aircraft, said Lt. Col. Ed Loomis.
The Diyala police later said an Iraqi soldier reported the downed helicopter and that U.S. forces were alerted.
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