Brandon Turbeville
The Iraqi Army has once again claimed that it has downed a NATO aircraft that was providing military assistance directly to ISIS according to Iranian FARS News Agency.
This time, the Iraqis are claiming they shot down a US Helicopter in the Al-Bagdadi region in Anbar Province last week. The reason for shooting the helicopter, according to FARS and, apparently, high-ranking Iraqi officials, was that the helicopter was carrying weapons to ISIS. Head of the Iraqi Parliament’s National Security and Defense Committee and senior Iraqi legislator, Hakem al-Zameli has stated that the Iraqi government is constantly receiving reports from its security forces that NATO aircraft is dropping weapons to ISIS.
Zameli claims that the reason for the airdrops is that NATO wishes to prolong the situation in Anbar Province for geopolitical purposes. Zameli stated that “The Iraqi Parliament’s National Security and Defense Committee has access to the photos of both planes that are British and have crashed while they were carrying weapons for the ISIL.”
Indeed, the claims come only one week after a video was released purporting to show a US Chinook helicopter dropping at least two boxes of weapons to ISIS and flying a low altitudes unmolested over ISIS-controlled territory south of Fallujah. It is reported that the footage was filmed by Hezbollah Brigades based in Iraq. In order to prove the fact that they did indeed down an American helicopter the FARS report claims that the Iraqi fighters posted a picture of the chopper and the weapons that were recovered from the wreckage.