Iraqi Kurdish officials say PKK militants killed in chopper crash near Turkey border
No one has yet claimed any connection to a helicopter that crashed in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region Wednesday night, killing seven people.
US officials have denied any connection to a mysterious helicopter crash that killed seven people in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region on Wednesday night, well-informed sources told Al-Monitor. All seven passengers, including five alleged members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), died in the AS350 Eurocopter that crashed in the district of Chamanke in Dohuk province, the Iraqi Kurdish-run counterterrorism agency said on Thursday.
The sources briefing Al-Monitor said an investigation was continuing and that there had been two helicopters at the scene. One crashed and the other flew to neighboring Syria into the Kurdish-governed zone, the sources said.
The counterterrorism agency said Iraq's government, the US-led coalition and Turkey had been contacted by the Iraqi Kurdish regional government about the crash, but each denied the helicopter was theirs, the statement added.
#UPDATE
Kurdistan Counter-Terrorism Unit says:
— Iraq, Turkey, and Coalition forces have denied losing any helicopter.
— Seven people, including PKK fighters died in the crash.
— the helicopter was a Eurocopter AS350 that can be military or civil service.#Kurdistan https://t.co/pYarEihfOH pic.twitter.com/AOB8aGmcSd
