An Iraqi militant organisation on Monday claimed it had shot down an RAF Hercules transport plane in Iraq, killing up to 15 British service personnel.
A statement posted on an Islamic website by Ansar al-Islam, one of Iraq’s longest-established militant groups, said its fighters had tracked the aircraft, ”which was flying at a low altitude, and fired an anti-tank missile at it”.
The transport plane had been flying from Baghdad to Balad, where there is a United States military base, when it crashed around 40km north-west of the Iraqi capital. The crash happened as polls closed in the Iraqi election, and its cause is still unknown.
”Thanks be to God, the plane was downed and a huge fire and black clouds of smoke were seen rising from the location of the crash,” the statement said.
Ansar al-Islam is thought to have been the creation of Osama bin Laden’s second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in the months after the September 11 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.
The British Ministry of Defence has not yet said what it believed had caused the crash, but the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, on Monday said military officials would reveal as soon as possible whether the plane had been shot down or had suffered a mechanical failure. An investigation is beginning on Monday.
At least 10 — and possibly as many as 15 — service personnel were believed to have died, but the exact numbers were not known. There was also media speculation that the plane had been carrying SAS personnel, but the MoD does not comment on the activities of special forces.
Straw paid tribute to the troops killed in the Hercules crash, saying: ”Our hearts go out to the families and comrades of those who were killed and those injured. These are very brave men, as are all the service personnel who have been killed or injured in the last two years.”
The area in which the plane went down is not controlled by British forces, but UK defence sources said it was likely to have been carrying a number of service personnel responsible for loading and security.
C130 Hercules aircraft are used to ferry troops and equipment between Britain and Basra in southern Iraq, and between Basra and Baghdad, but they do not often fly north of the Iraqi capital.
The Hercules — which has been the RAF’s workhorse for many years — is a relatively slow and low-flying aircraft. It is frequently used for humanitarian operations, distributing food and equipment. Without freight, it can carry around 100 troops. – Guardian Unlimited Â