Army pilot shot and seriously wounded in Iraq

A British army pilot serving in Iraq has been shot and seriously wounded as he sat at the controls of his Lynx helicopter.

The MoD has confirmed that the Army Air Corps pilot was hit three times while the helicopter was at an undisclosed location at around 11.20hrs local time on Wednesday. The co-pilot was able to fly the helicopter to Camp Dogwood, the base of the Black Watch.

The wounded pilot was taken to a military hospital in Baghdad, and his relatives have been informed of the incident.

Yesterday, the regiment's base at Camp Dogwood, 20 miles south of Baghdad, again came under attack when a single mortar fired into the compound injured a soldier. The injuries the soldier sustained are not thought to be life threatening.

Four soldiers from the 850-strong battle group have lost their lives since the 1st battalion Black Watch was moved north in support of the US-led assault on the rebel stronghold of Fallujah.

On Monday November 10, Private Pita Tukutukuwaqa, 27, became the fourth soldier to be killed in five days, when a roadside bomb exploded under his Warrior armoured vehicle.

Following that incident, Lieutenant Colonel James Cowan, the officer commanding 1st Battalion The Black Watch, said that the battle group would be changing its tactics to defend itself from the kind of attacks that had taken place so far.

On Sunday November 7, two British bomb disposal officers were injured when a suicide bomber rammed their Warrior vehicle near to Camp Dogwood. The soldiers, who were on attachment with the Black Watch, sustained serious injuries to their lower legs.

On Thursday November 4, three soldiers from the 1st battalion of the Black Watch regiment were killed in a similar style of suicide bomb attack on the checkpoint they were manning.

The bodies of the three soldiers, Sergeant Stuart Gray, 31, Private Paul Lowe, 19, and Private Scott McArdle, 22, were returned to the UK on Wednesday, November 10.

(SP/GMCG)