Mysterious helicopter crash in northern Iraq kills many

DOHUK, Iraq (AP) – A mysterious helicopter crash in northern Iraq has killed several people, including militants from an outlawed Kurdish rebel group, according to a statement Thursday from Iraqi Kurdish-run counterterrorism services.

The AS350 Eurocopter crashed the night before in the Chamank district of Dohuk province in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, the counter-terrorism service said in a statement posted on social media. According to the statement, all its passengers were killed.

An investigator at the crash site said at least seven people were on board. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media while the investigation is ongoing.

The helicopter was carrying militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, the statement said. The incident is shrouded in mystery as neither side has yet claimed ownership of the military helicopter.

The statement said the Iraqi government, the US-led coalition and Turkey had been contacted by the Iraqi Kurdish regional government about the crash, but each side denied that the helicopter belonged to them.

Zagros Hiwa, a spokesman for the PKK, said the group does not have a helicopter and is investigating the incident. He also cast doubt on the presence of PKK militants on the flight, saying they may have had a coalition helicopter carrying fighters with the People’s Protection Unit, or the YPG, another PKK affiliate active in Syria.

A spokesman for the US-led coalition declined to comment, saying the crash fell outside the scope of the coalition’s operations.

Turkish Defense Ministry officials said initial reports that the helicopter was Turkish were “totally untrue” and that there were no Turkish military helicopter flights in the region.

The PKK has waged an insurgency against Turkey since the 1980s and is considered a terrorist group by Ankara, the United States and the European Union.

PKK militants have created safe havens in northern Iraq and roam freely there, often under attack by Turkey.