Twelve Americans died Saturday when a US military helicopter crashed in northwestern Iraq.
The US military says the aircraft was one of two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters flying between American bases in Iraq's sparsely populated northwest. Communication contact was lost with the Black Hawk just before midnight Saturday. The wreckage was found about 12 hours later.
The US military says all people on board, including crew and passengers, died in the crash. All those killed are believed to be American citizens, but the military said it cannot confirm if all were US military personnel.
Five other US military personnel have died in other attacks over the weekend. The US military also announced that three marines died Sunday in Fallujah in separate small arms attacks. Two other marines were killed by roadside bombs in Iraq's western Anbar province.
According to the U.S. military, at least 30 Americans have been killed in Iraq so far this year.