Islamic State controls much of northern and western Iraq as well as parts of Syria
An Iraqi military helicopter has been shot down by Islamic State militants near the Sunni-dominated city of Samarra, killing the two pilots.
Iraqi media reported Saturday that the military helicopter had been shot down near Mutassem, a strategic entry to the Shiite holy city of Samarra about 78 miles north of the capital.
It wasn’t immediately clear what type of helicopter was shot down, or exactly when. Iraq’s Al Hurrah reported that it was shot down Saturday, as did the Associated Press, but anti-government activists claimed at least one helicopter, maybe two, were downed Friday.
Iraqi defense ministry officials in Samarra said they could not confirm details of the crash.
Central Samarra has been secured by the Iraqi army and several Shiite militias who have led the battle against Islamic State, which controls much of northern and western Iraq as well as parts of Syria.
The group wrested control of Mutassem from the government three months ago, touting the victory in a series of graphic photos posted online showing Iraqi soldiers’ corpses in the streets.
U.S. and Iraqi forces have since tried to retake the area through airstrikes that so far have proved unsuccessful — although on Saturday, the Iraqi government claimed to have liberated Mutassem.
Islamic State has shot down at least two other Iraqi military helicopters near another central Iraqi city in recent months — Beiji, home to a lucrative refinery that would prove a strategic coup for the group.
The attack in Samarra was not unexpected — in recent days, radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr put his Peace Brigade militia on alert to go to battle with the Sunni militants on short notice for the city, home to a Shiite mosque whose destruction eight years ago deepened the country’s sectarian divide.
Khaled Khazraji, vice president of the security committee for surrounding Salahuddin province, said Saturday that military reinforcements had arrived to bolster local security in the wake of the helicopter attack.
“This operation … will pave the way for a wider operation to liberate the center of the province,” from Islamic State, Khazraji said in an interview with local news broadcaster Al-Sumariyah News.
