At least five Iraqi soldiers have been killed on Thursday when their helicopter crashed on a “combat mission” north of Baghdad, the military said.

The helicopter crashed near Amerli in Salaheddin province, the military said, in an area where Iraqi troops have carried out repeated operations against suspected sleeper cells of the Islamic State group.

Video footage sent to journalists in Baghdad showed firefighters attempting to put out the blaze in the remains of the aircraft.

The security forces had launched an operation on Tuesday to “search and clear areas in the south of Kirkuk province”, a statement on their Twitter account said.

The security source told that the helicopter that came down was one of two that had been checking pylons carrying high-voltage power lines in the area.

As the two aircraft approached Amerli district, one of them took a “direct hit” which forced it down.

Note that the July 19 suicide bombing claimed by the Sunni extremists killed 30 people in a street market in a Shiite district of Baghdad.

Earlier in 2017, a military helicopter had crashed near Turkey’s border with Iraq and Syria and killed thirteen soldiers.

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