Helicopter strikes kill 7 'terrorists' in Anbar

Although the military did not identify the kind of gunship used in the attack, the CH-53E Super Stallion has been used in the Lake Qadisiya area recently

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. helicopters blasted a lakeshore militant hideout north of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing seven gunmen, after several fled there by boat to escape pursuing U.S. troops, the U.S. military said.

The air strike took place during a raid targeting "foreign terrorist facilitators" northwest of Haditha in the volatile Anbar province, heartland of the Sunni insurgency, the U.S. military said in a statement.

It said two militants were killed and six others detained in the initial raid. Three escaped by boat on nearby Lake Qadisiya to a tent encampment on a small peninsula where they were met by four more men, also armed.

"Coalition Forces engaged the enemy force with rotary wing aircraft killing seven terrorists. Several weapons including grenades, machine guns and pistols were found in the tents," the statement said.

Read the rest at the Washington Post

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