Eight British and four US soldiers were killed when a US Marine helicopter crashed in Kuwait early this morning, a British military spokesman in Kuwait said.
So far, just one US marine has been killed in actual combat, an American spokesman said, without elaborating on the circumstances. There is no official tollof Iraqi military casualties.
The dead from the helicopter crash included four US airmen and eight British RoyalMarines, the spokesman said. The incident occurred during operations over the al Faw peninsula overnight to capture key oil facilities.
"None survived the crash. There is no evidence that thehelicopter crashed due to enemy fire. Our mission continues," the spokesman said.
Earlier, US Marine Corps Major David Andersen said 12 British and four US troops had lost their lives.
The CH-46E helicopter crashed about 10 miles south of the border with Iraq early this morning, Irish time.
Yesterday two other US military helicopters made crash landings during operations along the Kuwait-Iraq border.
One was later destroyed by US warplanes to prevent it from falling into Iraqi hands, Defense Department officials said.