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TIKRIT, Iraq, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- An Iraqi military helicopter crashed Saturday in Iraq's northern central province of Salahudin due to technical malfunction, a provincial security source told Xinhua.
The chopper crashed while it was flying near the town of Mkeshifa, also known as Dijlah, some 140 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the source said on condition of anonymity.
Iraqi security force rushed to the scene, the source said, without giving further details about the fate of the crew.
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.
Mosul, some 400 km north of Baghdad, has been under IS control since June 2014, when Iraqi government forces abandoned their weapons and fled.
