Related: US helicopter crashes, killing 12 aboard

    BAGHDAD, Jan. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- A U.S. military helicopter which crashed in northern Iraq on Sunday killing all 12 aboard had been flying in bad weather, the U.S. military said on Monday.

    The cause of the crash, one of the deadliest in Iraq since the start of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, was still under investigation, it said.

    U.S. military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Barry Johnson said all of the 12 aboard the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter were U.S. citizens.

    According to a separate military statement, the 12 included four civilians and eight service personnel.

    The helicopter went down 12 km east of the town of Tal Afar shortly before midnight on Saturday. It lost communications before the crash took place. Enditem