2 crew killed as helicopter crashes in Iraq's Salahudin

An Iraqi military helicopter crashed Wednesday in Iraq's northern central province of Salahudin due to technical malfunction, killing two crew members, a provincial security source told Xinhua.

The chopper crashed while it was flying near the town of Baiji, some 200 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the source said on condition of anonymity.

Iraqi security forces rushed to the scene and retrieved the bodied of the two members, the source said, adding that an investigation about the incident is underway.

The incident occurred as the Iraqi security forces backed by anti-IS coalition are carrying out a major offensive to drive out the IS militants from its last major stronghold in and around Mosul in northern Iraq.

source: Xinhua