US military says helicopter accident in northeastern Syria left 22 American troops injured

[rangerrebew]

US military says helicopter accident in northeastern Syria left 22 American troops injured
By BASSEM MROUE
 
BEIRUT (AP) — A helicopter accident in northeastern Syria over the weekend left 22 American service members injured, the U.S. military said Tuesday, adding that the cause of the accident was under investigation and that no enemy fire was involved.

The military statement said the service members were receiving treatment and 10 were moved to “higher care facilities” outside the region.

“A helicopter mishap in northeastern Syria resulted in the injuries of various degrees of 22 U.S. service members,” it said. “No enemy fire was reported.”

A spokesman for the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment.

There are at least 900 U.S. forces in Syria on average, along with an undisclosed number of contractors. U.S. special operations forces also move in and out of the country, but are usually in small teams and are not included in the official count.

https://apnews.com/article/syria-us-helicopter-accident-c39f5f211818e11ee06c4292b06526e6

[Timber Rattler]

Yeah, I got a friend there, and he said it was a bad crash.

[Timber Rattler]

UPDATE:

U.S. Soldiers Injured in Syria Were Part of Commando Unit

The 22 soldiers who were injured in a helicopter accident in northeastern Syria on Sunday were part of the Army’s highly secretive Delta Force commando unit, which has previously carried out kill-or-capture raids against Islamic State militants in that part of the country, three senior military officials said on Tuesday.

The Pentagon’s Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East and South Asia, said in a brief statement on Monday night that “a helicopter mishap” in northeastern Syria had left nearly two dozen service members with injuries. The statement said that 10 of the soldiers had been evacuated to hospitals outside the region and that an inquiry was underway.

The three military officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the continuing inquiry, said on Tuesday that an MH-47 Chinook helicopter carrying the commandos had gone down in apparently good weather and without taking hostile fire.

EXCERPT

[mountaineer]

U.S. Service Members Injured in Helicopter Mishap
USCENTCOM
June 12, 2023

Release Number 20230612-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TAMPA, Fla. - June 11th, a helicopter mishap in northeastern Syria resulted in injuries of various degrees to 22 U.S. service members. The service members are receiving treatment for their injuries and 10 have been evacuated to higher care facilities outside of the CENTCOM AOR. The cause of the incident is under investigation, although no enemy fire was reported. CENTCOM

Are we at war with anyone in Syria that we might truthfully refer to as the "enemy"?

... Military.com’s Konstantin Toropin cites a Pentagon spokesman as saying “while the issue is still under investigation, the current understanding is the crash occurred while landing at a staging base, not during takeoff.” The helicopter was reportedly an MH-47 Chinook that “had a problem with one rotor, causing a hard landing during takeoff.” No enemy fire is believed to have occurred.

The New York Times reported on Tuesday that the injured soldiers are “part of the Army’s highly secretive Delta Force commando unit, which has previously carried out kill-or-capture raids against [ISIS] militants in that part of the country.” As we at The Stream frequently try to remind our readers, there are about 900 U.S. military personnel currently serving in Syria, with another 2,500 in neighboring Iraq. ...

Stream.org