BAGHDAD — An Iraqi air force helicopter was downed west of Mosul on Saturday afternoon after coming under fire from the Islamic State militant group, according to Iraq’s joint operations command.
The helicopter was hit while supporting Iraq’s mostly Shiite militia forces in an operation to retake villages still held by the militants in the sprawling desert to Mosul’s west, Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool, the command’s spokesman, said in a statement. The source of the attack was ground fire, the pilot landed safely and there were no fatalities, he said.
The government-sanctioned Shiite militia forces known as the Popular Mobilization Units began an operation to retake a small village just south of Sinjar on Friday.
Inside Mosul, Iraqi forces backed by the U.S.-led coalition are slowly closing in on a small cluster of neighborhoods in the city’s west held by the extremist group.
The operation to retake Mosul began in October. The city’s east was declared liberated in January, and Iraqi forces launched the operation to retake the west the next month.
The U.S.-led coalition does not provide air cover for the operation led by the Popular Mobilization Units.
The last time an Iraqi helicopter was shot down was in April, and the crash killed both pilots.