“Terrorists Claim U.K. Plane Attack,” from AP, :
BAGHDAD, Iraq “” Britain’s government said Monday that 10 of its military personnel were missing and presumed dead following the downing of a military transport plane north of Baghdad on Iraq’s election day.
An Iraqi militant group claimed responsibility for shooting down the plane in an Internet statement.
If the deaths are confirmed, it would be the biggest single loss of British lives since the start of the Iraq war. The previous highest number was eight.
In a statement on an Islamic Web site, Ansar al-Islam claimed its fighters tracked the aircraft, “which was flying at a low altitude, and fired an anti-tank missile at it.” The plane was flying from Baghdad to the town of Balad, where the U.S. military has an air base.
“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,” said the statement posted Sunday.