Odierno: 2 held in copter downings; 'Ambush sites' part of plan

This crash of a CH-46 Sea Knight between Baghdad and Fallujah killed 7 in early February. 6 military and 2 private contractor helicopters have been downed by gunfire or missiles since the first of the year.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military has captured at least two suspects in the recent spate of helicopter downings in Iraq, the No. 2 American commander there said Thursday...

Odierno said that in two or three of the helicopter cases it appeared "there were probably some sort of ambush sites that were set up by some of our foes.''

Odierno said that one man, detained about a week ago, "has admitted that he was involved in one of'' the downings and that the military is investigating.

"And we've done a couple operations over the last few nights, and I think we've also gone into another part of the cell (that) might have shot down another aircraft,'' he said. "I'm not going to comment anymore on the two people we captured because ... we're still working those issues.''

Read the rest at the Star Tribune

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