An al-Qaeda-backed group on Friday released an Internet video
of what it said was the shooting down of a U.S. helicopter in
Iraq this week, which killed seven military personnel.
But a senior U.S. military officer said initial reports suggested
mechanical failure was to blame for the helicopter crash, the
sixth in Iraq in the past three weeks.
The video, posted on a Web site used by insurgents, showed an
apparent missile hitting the helicopter. The footage also showed
the aircraft pulling away while trailing smoke before being engulfed
in flames and crashing behind distant trees.
"Early indications are this last, so the sixth in this pattern,
is (due to) mechanical failure," Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute,
director of operations for the U.S. military's joint chiefs of
staff, told reporters at the Pentagon.
"There are some eyewitness accounts that cause professional
aviation officers to believe that it was ... most likely a mechanical
malfunction," Lute said.
"I'd be very cautious about drawing conclusions from things
that are posted on the Internet," he said.
The insurgent group -- the Islamic State in Iraq -- claimed responsibility
on Wednesday for downing the helicopter in western Anbar province.
U.S. officials said then they were probing the crash of a Marine
transport helicopter in Anbar.
The video's soundtrack carried militant chants and what appeared
to be an old speech by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
"Do not seek the advice of anyone about killing Americans.
Press ahead with the blessing of God," said the speaker who
sounded like bin Laden.
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