Report: Mortar attack on Taji air base destroys 1 copter, sets others on fire

Above: After being rigged up to be sling loaded, a CH-47 Chinook helicopter prepares to lift a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter to be transported from Camp Taji to another forward operating base for repairs last week. Todays mortar attack occurred about 2 a.m.

BAGHDAD: Mortar rounds hit a U.S. Air Force base north of Baghdad on Thursday, destroying one helicopter and damaging nine others, police said...

In a brief statement, the U.S. military said: "There was an indirect fire attack on the base at Taji which resulted in damage to some aircraft." Indirect fire is a term the military generally uses to describe rocket or mortar attacks.

An Iraqi civilian who works at the base said he saw about 16 damaged helicopters, some of them set on fire by the mortar attack. The worker spoke on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Read the rest at the International Herald Tribune

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