4 Americans in Iraq crash shot in head

In Washington, a US defence official said four of the five killed were shot in the back of the head but did not know whether they were still alive when they were shot.

The Iraqi official, who also declined to be identified because details had not been made public, said the four were shot in the back of the head while they were on the ground. It also was not clear whether gunfire actually brought the small helicopter down or caused the craft to drop toward the ground, where it became entangled in electrical wires, the US official said.

Blackwater USA confirmed that five Americans employed by the North Carolina-based company as security professionals were killed, but provided no identities or any details.

On Wednesday, US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad offered condolences for the five Americans killed. “We had a very bad day yesterday,” Khalilzad told reporters during a round-table discussion at the embassy in the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad. “We lost five fine men.”

The New York Times, citing unnamed American officials, reported that the helicopter’s four-man crew was killed along with a gunner on a second Blackwater helicopter.

A Sunni insurgent group, the Ansar al-Sunnah Army, claimed responsibility and posted identity cards of men who were on the helicopter on a Web site, including at least two that bore the name of Arthur Laguna, who was later identified by his mother as among those killed.

Blackwater USA provides security for State Department officials in Iraq, trains military units from around the world, and works for corporate clients.

–QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA