U.S. Airstrikes Hit Qaeda Post in Iraq

Ali Abu Shish/Reuters


The strike occurred Friday west of Taji, where several American helicopters were shot down in recent weeks, and the American assault destroyed at least two pickup trucks with mounted machine guns, said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a military spokesman in Baghdad.

He said the strike did not appear to eliminate the threat to American aircraft because other weapons had been used against helicopters in Falluja and other parts of the country.

“We have seen other systems,” he said. “When the other helicopters were shot down, it wasn’t always heavy machine guns that did that. Part of the assessment we’re doing now is trying to figure out where in the network these weapons fit in.”