Four U.S. soldiers killed in helicopter crash during training

KUWAIT CITY -- A U.S. Army UH-60 "Black Hawk" helicopter crashed early Tuesday during a night training mission, killing all four crew members, the U.S. Army said.

The crash occurred about 1 a.m. (5 p.m. EST Monday) near the military's Camp New Jersey about 30 miles northwest of Kuwait City, an Army statement said.

The soldiers' identification was withheld pending notification of next of kin.

The aircraft was one of two from the Army's V Corps and was part of the force that has been massed in this Gulf emirate for a possible invasion of Iraq.

The crew members were the only personnel on board, the Army said.

Cheryl Irwin, a Defense Department spokeswoman, said Central Command is investigating the crash.

It was the worst U.S. helicopter crash overseas since Jan. 30, when four members of an elite aviation regiment were killed in a training mission seven miles east of Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.

The special operations helicopter that crashed was known as the MH-60, an adapted version of the Black Hawk that Army special operations forces use for long-range, low-level penetration of hostile territory at night.

Since U.S. military action in Afghanistan began in October 2001, at least six U.S. helicopters have crashed or had hard landings that have injured or killed troops. Two Army Rangers and two Marines have been killed, and at least 11 other troops have been injured.

More than 70,000 U.S. troops are training in the Kuwaiti desert in preparation for a possible invasion of Iraq. Bush has threatened to use force to disarm Baghdad of weapons of mass destruction if it does not do so voluntarily according to U.N. resolutions.

Iraq denies it has such weapons.

American soldiers and civilians have been killed or wounded in Kuwait in three separate incidents since October. On Jan. 21, Islamic extremists were blamed for killing a San Diego computer contractor and injuring another American close to Camp Doha, where U.S. forces are based.

A Kuwaiti policeman faces trial on charges of shooting and seriously wounding two U.S. soldiers on Nov. 21 after allegedly stopping their car on a highway.

In October, Muslim fundamentalists killed one U.S. Marine and injured another on a Kuwaiti island. Other Marines killed the gunmen, who were religious extremists.